The EPSRC-funded initiative will unite academia, industry and government to transform the design, manufacture and deployment of advanced surface technologies.
A new UK-wide network designed to accelerate innovation in sustainable coatings and advanced surface technologies has secured £1.38 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The UK Network+ for Sustainable Coatings, led by researchers at Northumbria University and Newcastle University, will establish a national hub to coordinate research, innovation and industry collaboration across the UK’s coatings ecosystem.
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), which supported the proposal, is among the partners helping to shape the network’s vision for more sustainable and circular materials systems.
The coatings sector plays a critical role across strategically important industries including energy, transport, healthcare, defence and advanced manufacturing. However, innovation is often fragmented, creating barriers to the development and adoption of more sustainable alternatives.
The new Network Plus aims to address these challenges by bringing together researchers, businesses, Catapults, policymakers and other stakeholders to accelerate the transition towards high-performance, low-impact surface technologies.
The network aligns with the UK’s National Materials Innovation Strategy and focuses on Advanced Surface Technologies, one of the strategy’s key high-growth opportunity areas. It is also delivering key aspects of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s roadmap to transition to sustainable polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs) by 2040.
PLFs are found in millions of products, including paints, coatings, detergents, cosmetics and agrochemicals. The RSC estimates that more than 85% of all PLFs produced globally – around 31 million metric tonnes each year – are used in the paints and coatings, inks and coatings, and adhesives and sealants sectors. Transitioning these materials away from fossil-derived feedstocks and towards more circular, sustainable systems represents one of the biggest opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of essential industrial and consumer products.
Through coordinated research and innovation activities, the network will support the development of coatings and surface technologies that reduce reliance on hazardous chemistries and fossil-derived feedstocks, improve resource efficiency, enable circular design approaches and extend product lifetimes.
Activities will include support for proof-of-concept projects and demonstrators, development of shared data, testing and modelling approaches, and programmes to strengthen UK capability in sustainable coating design, digital materials science and AI-enabled materials development.
I’m extremely excited to launch our Network+ that will build and train a community of experts across materials science, surface engineering, digital technologies and circular manufacturing to help transform how surface technologies are designed, manufactured and deployed.
We will be connecting academia, industry, government and innovation organisations to deliver the full ambition of the National Materials Innovation Strategy, ensuring that future materials systems can simultaneously deliver performance, durability and sustainability while strengthening the UK’s resilience and global competitiveness.
Co-leader Professor Elizabeth Gibson from Newcastle University
Co-leader Professor Matt Unthank from Northumbria University said: “Having led coatings and surfaces research projects for many years, from both industrial roles and as an academic at Northumbria University, I have seen first-hand the challenges involved in forging long-lasting, open research collaborations between industry and academia. This Network Plus will create, support and nurture these collaborations, strengthening this critical UK industry into the future.”
Its goals strongly align with wider efforts across the materials and chemicals sectors to move from linear to circular systems.
The Network+ reflects recommendations from the RSC’s Sustainable Polymers in Liquid Formulations (PLFs) roadmap, which calls for greater collaboration across industry, academia, government and funders to accelerate innovation in sustainable materials. The roadmap identified coatings, paints and other formulated products as priority areas where action is needed to reduce dependence on fossil-derived feedstocks, improve circularity and develop materials that are sustainable by design.
Professor Anju Massey-Brooker, Technical Lead, PLFs 2040 Initiative at the Royal Society of Chemistry said: “Paints and coatings are essential to modern life. They protect critical infrastructure, improve durability and performance, and support industries from energy and transport to healthcare and manufacturing. Our Sustainable Polymers in Liquid Formulations roadmap showed that more than 85% of all PLFs are used in the paints and coatings, inks and coatings, and adhesives and sealants sectors. That means innovation in these sectors has the potential to deliver a significant sustainability impact.
“The transition to sustainable materials cannot be achieved by individual organisations working alone. This new network brings together researchers, industry, policymakers and innovators around a shared challenge, accelerating the development of coatings that use more sustainable feedstocks, support circularity and continue to deliver the performance society relies on.”
The network will act as a national coordination platform, helping to align research priorities with industrial needs while strengthening the UK’s position as a leader in sustainable materials innovation.
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