Partnership to investigate new applications for bio-based materials

Burlington, ON – EcoSynthetix and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo have joined forces through an industrial partnership to collaborate on new applications for EcoSynthetix’ EcoSphere technology. The five-year agreement will be jointly funded through an EcoSynthetix and NSERC (National Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Collaborative Research and Development Grant. The project matches the scientific expertise from the University of Waterloo in macromolecular science with the sustainability benefits of EcoSpherebio-based nanoparticles which are based on green chemistry. The goal of the project is to broaden the scientific knowledge base of the technology to support its introduction into new application areas.

“As a global centre of excellence for nanotechnology research, this project represents a great opportunity for our institute, faculty and students at the university, to collaborate with a local innovator to further our understanding of the technology and its potential applications,” said Dr. Arthur J. Carty, executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (“WIN”) and an independent director of the board of EcoSynthetix.

The technology is being commercially utilized as biobased latex products providing alternatives to petroleum-based binders in the coated paper and paperboard market. The goal of the project is to generate a greater understanding of the properties of EcoSphere biolatex binders by establishing a knowledge base that could enable tailor-made novel particles with the desired properties for a given application. The project team will be chemically modifying the nanoparticles and then characterizing how the properties of the novel particles are affected by the changes.