News Archive
Manchester and Durham universities paint a breakthrough for the environment
(18 September 2007)
Manchester and Durham universities paint a breakthrough for the environment
The developers of a paint additive that is set to revolutionise the paint and coatings industries have secured funding of £90K from NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI), through its Proof of Concept Fund.
The additive, HESS - being developed by The University of Manchester and Durham University - is a crosslinker added to water-based paints to eliminate the emission of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when drying, as well as improving the paint’s performance. Water-based paints currently on the market produce harmful VOCs when drying and are inferior to solvent-based paints, whereas HESS paints release only water and are likely to be stronger and more durable.
HESS was developed by Dr Andrew Whiting, Professor Peter Lovell and Dr David Berrisford and has been supported by The University of Manchester’s Intellectual Property commercialisation company (UMIP) to secure a European and US patent.
The NSEI funding will enable work to be carried out at Durham University to scale up the synthesis of HESS from gram to multi-kilo quantities so that it can be used in industry trials.
Several paint and coatings industry giants are keen to test HESS because it could potentially accelerate the replacement of solvent-base paints with water-based ones that greatly reduce the damaging impact on the environment and health of users.
Chemist, Dr Andy Whiting leading the team at Durham commented: “This technology really has the potential to create a new generation of more environmentally-friendly paints, coatings and adhesives. This would be great news for DIY enthusiasts and decorators everywhere since HESS-based products wouldn't produce any of the fumes normally associated with painting and decorating. This new funding allows us to start taking the technology out of the lab and one step closer to the local DIY store.”
Dr David Berrisford said: “In my opinion, negligible VOC release will be seen as the norm in all sorts of technological applications in the future. To achieve that, we need to discover better chemistry.”
Professor Peter Lovell added: "HESS satisfies crosslinking criteria that has been the holy grail for the water-based coatings industry over several decades and provides a new opportunity to expand the applications of water-based coatings at the expense of environmentally-unfriendly solvent-based coatings".
Business development manager at UMIP, Richard Price said: “Paint manufacturers have been searching for the answer to the question of how to produce high-performance paints that are environmentally sound for a very long time and HESS is that solution – it’s groundbreaking and, as you can imagine, is attracting a lot of interest from the industry.
“HESS has been in development since 1998 so it’s very exciting to be on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of turning it into a commercial reality - the NorthStar funding will be instrumental in achieving this.”
Michelle Cooper, investment manager at NSEI, said: “This is a major breakthrough for paint technology, combining environmental and health benefits with improved performance.
“It’s good to see the expertise of two leading universities being pooled to develop new technology with such exciting market potential. It’s exactly the type of early stage business we look to invest in to turn innovative ideas into commercial success.”
The £10 million Proof of Concept Fund provides investments of up to £90,000 to help innovative companies research, develop and market their ideas. It is backed by the European Regional Development Fund and regional development agency One NorthEast.
Durham Chemistry Contact:
Dr Andy Whiting
Photo From Left to Right:- Richard Price from UMIP; Dr David Berrisford OF UMIP, Michelle Cooper from NSEI and Dr Andy Whiting, Durham University.