Cutting edge Nottingham company welcomes University of Leicester chemistry alumnus to its R&D team
A University of Leicester chemistry graduate has secured a role where he can ‘help make a difference’ with a company at the forefront of sustainable chemistry solutions tackling global issues associated with climate change.
Promethean Particles is a world-leader in the production of advanced materials and is focused on developing these for use in the fight against climate change. Following a recent injection of funding, Promethean invited laboratory technician and former Leicester student Kale Cooke, alongside senior technical scientist Dr Leah Matsinha, to join the team.
The University of Nottingham spin-out company, which recently won nearly €2.5million in funding through the European Innovation Council Accelerator programme, is pioneering the manufacture of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on an industrial scale. MOFs are being developed for a range of critical applications including carbon capture – which has been identified as key to tackling rapidly increasing global atmospheric temperatures – as well as separating gases, and harvesting water from the air.
Kale, who has come to Promethean shortly after completing a degree in chemistry from the University of Leicester, said: “I find the work we are doing at Promethean fascinating. The MOF materials we’re making are addressing major global problems so I feel it’s a technology that is going to be around for a long time and is going to make a significant positive impact on all of our futures.
“Some of the MOFs we produce can be used to reduce carbon emissions, while others can harvest water from the air, especially in dry and hot climates where this could be extremely helpful. It’s good to be working somewhere where you can help make a difference.”
A manufactured MOF takes the form of a pellet or granule and is housed within specialist engineered equipment where it acts to selectively adsorb – meaning, to create a thin layer on another surface - a target molecule such as water, carbon dioxide, or other gas. Once the MOF is saturated, the system acts as a ‘wringer’ to controllably release the molecules, so that the MOF can repeat the adsorption process. Through cycling between these states, the MOF is able to continually adsorb the molecules for which it has been designed.
By creating a supply of MOFs at a commercial scale, Promethean is building confidence in the marketplace for its customers to design and build the appropriate systems, allowing for an exciting future in which carbon capture and water harvesting are possible on a much larger scale than previously.
James Stephenson, chief executive officer of Promethean, said: “As the world becomes increasingly aware of the impact of climate change, the solutions presented by MOFs are attracting more interest from the business world. We are seeing companies developing innovative, MOF-based systems that will require our products, and financial investors keen to back clean technologies. This is good news for Promethean as we continue to scale up our MOF manufacturing operations to meet growing demand. We’re also expanding our knowledge base by recruiting talent with a diverse range of skills and experience. We are very happy to welcome Leah and Kale to our team.”