Materials chemistry centre well on track

The KCMC is a virtual centre of expertise providing multi-disciplinary research and innovative knowledge transfer based on world class capabilities in applied materials chemistry.

It provides a single point of contact for companies of all sizes to access a substantial range of facilities and expertise in applied materials chemistry at four leading academic institutions at Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester Universities and the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury.

The Centre offers proactive help in the formulation and delivery of collaborative R&D projects; fast track project initiation with dedicated project scientists in our partner institutions; excellent project management and knowledge transfer expertise.

Director John Conti-Ramsden comments: “We are leveraging the materials chemistry expertise of our core partners across over 40 initiated or completed industry projects. Together, these projects have already generated significant financial numbers, with the total value of the industry programme being over £4m”.

KCMC industry projects initiated in the past year have included a major project in the computational modelling of liquid formulations, the development of new materials for separations and several projects exploiting new capabilities in atomic layer deposition (ALD) available through the University of liverpool.

Marking a classic KCMC project in the healthcare sector, a prestigious EPSRC award was recently received by KCMC partner the University of Liverpool to develop the long-term tracking of stem cells. The interdisciplinary collaboration between physical scientists and stem cell biologists aims to develop the technology to monitor stem cells using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is a great example of how interdisciplinary work can make a significant impact on stem cell research.