Warwick Polymer Group » News

Warwick drives green growth with £13.6M EPSRC hub in plastics

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 13:05:57 GMT

From developing greener materials and processes to growing more sustainable supply chains, a new £13.6 million research hub, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will help researchers at the University of Warwick tackle some of the UK’s biggest manufacturing challenges.

Dr Hannes Houck wins €1.5 million EU funding for innovative DeCoDER project

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:54:10 GMT

Dr Hannes Houck (Chemistry) has been awarded €1.5 million starting grants by the European Research Council (ERC). This funding, part of a €761 million initiative, empowers visionary talents to establish independent teams and pursue groundbreaking research across Europe.

As part of the drive toward sustainable manufacturing, Dr. Houck has proposed a concept to transform 3D photo-printed wasted into a reusable ink for re-printing. The project, titled "DeCoDER: Decoupled Covalent Dynamic Exchange Reactions for Closed-Loop Photo-3D-printing", introduces a novel chemical framework designed to enable full recyclability of 3D printed materials—without the need for additional chemical processes.

Dr Hannes Houck explains,

"Light-based 3D printing is rapidly transforming from niche applications to more industrially relevant manufacturing of the next-generation of synthetic materials, including dental retainers, footwear and 3D printed car parts. But with this fast-growing production also comes severe concerns and environmental challenges about the large amounts of non-recyclable waste that is generated from 3D photo-printing. The current working principle of light-based 3D printing inks is based on photochemical processes that permanently harden a liquid into a solid - so-called covalently crosslinked - 3D object. This makes the ink single-use and the resulting printed materials unrecyclable. This project has the ambition to address this issue by re-designing the chemistry so that one and the same ink can be re-used for multiple re-prints, making it a closed-loop process."

Dr Hannes Houck said,

“It is a great honour to receive this prestigious ERC grant and I am very much looking forward to the enormous boost that this gives to our Photochemistry for Materials research team. With the DeCoDER project, we want to make impactful contributions and overcome fundamental challenges to the chemistry that drives light-based additive manufacturing."

McMaster Honours Prof Stefan Bon with Les Shemilt Lectureship

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:43:15 GMT

Interface Polymers scales up their tech

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 13:17:58 GMT

Scaling up a deep tech chemistry idea can be fraught with difficulty. Interface Polymers Ltd., a spin-out company from prof. Peter Scott at Warwick Chemistry, found a unique route to scale their technology, which provides solutions for plastic recyclability and the adhesion of materials. This has benefits like reducing material waste and increasing the electrification of vehicles. Find out more about this technology and their thoughts on the support for chemistry start-ups in the UK.

Managing the Menopause

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 13:14:16 GMT

Prof. Dave Haddleton’s spin-out company, Medherant, is utilizing unique polymer science in its first-of-its-kind testosterone patch for women, which is currently in clinical trials and is expected to be on the market by 2028.

Dr Alex Baker wins RSC Education Prize

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 10:43:00 GMT

Dr Alex Baker, Warwick Polymer Group, has been named winner of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Early Career Prize for Excellence in Higher Education in recognition of brilliance in chemistry education.

Warwick Researchers Lead the Way in Developing Sustainable Alternatives to Plastics

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:03:28 GMT

Templating Calcium Phosphate onto Graphene Oxide Sheets

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 18:39:46 GMT

Branched polymer colloids make excellent adhesives

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 12:49:33 GMT

Grafting polymers to graphene oxide goes better through branching

Mon, 13 May 2024 17:57:32 GMT