Solvent Modelling for Polymer Processing
The East Midlands Materials Society (EMMS) is pleased to announce their upcoming technical lecture, which will be delivered by Dr Con Robert McElroy Senior Lecturer in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, The Bridge at University of Lincoln on 11 December.
With a drive from both legislation and evolving attitudes, solvent selection has become an increasingly important area of research. The number of potential solvents to use in a process is ever-growing. Solvent selection guides can aid in choosing solvents that meet desired health, safety and environmental considerations but don't offer ease of substitution based on activity. Choosing a small selection of solvents and trialling those in an application allows the construction of a model based on Hansen Solubility Parameters. By using the easily accessible Hansen Solubility Parameters in Practice (HSPiP), it is possible to not only screen a wide array of potential solvents but also solvent mixtures. Something that to do iteratively in the lab would take weeks if not months.
Dr Rob McElroy gained his PhD in 2007 at Keele University working on the production of composite materials from copolymers incorporating renewable resources. In 2009 he joined Prof. Pietro Tundo’s Carbonate Chemistry Group at Ca Foscari University of Venice looking into applications of dialkyl carbonates. He joined the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence, University of York as a PDRA in 2011 and stayed for 12 years working on everything from extraction and separation in supercritical CO2, greening of pharmaceutical chemistry, production of bio-derived polymers, production of bio-derived surfactants, battery recycling, polymer processing and solvent discovery and applications. He is one of the co-inventors of the bioderived solvent Cyrene as well as CTO of the startup Starbons. He joined Lincoln in 2023 where he continues to work on all things green and sustainable, with a heavy leaning towards industrial applications.
All are welcome to attend this lecture which will be delivered at the The Bridge at University of Lincoln. Students attending the event will receive free IOM3 student membership.
For more information visit the EMMS homepage.
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