Hartford Business Journal

2014 | Doing Business in Connecticut 23 SPONSORED REPORT T hree years of research by UConn chemists, led by faculty researcher and principal investigator Steven L. Suib, have culminated in the recent discovery of a new way of making a class of porous materials that allows for greater manufacturing controls and significantly broader applications than the longtime industry standard. Suib's research involves the creation of mesoporous materials, or materials with uniform pores that range in diameter from 2 to 50 nanometers. These materials allow targeted molecules of a particular size to flow into and out of the material, which is important in such applications as adsorption, sensors, optics, magnetic, and energy products such as the catalysts found in fuel cells. The UConn process allows scientists to change the diameter of the pores. This unique approach helps contain chemical reactions and provides unprecedented control and flexibility. The process has resulted in the creation of more than 60 new families of materials, with the potential for many more. The key catalyst in the process is recyclable, making it a green technology. "Professor Suib's discovery … is bound to push this area to new heights, with all sorts of potential applications, making this study a most important development in materials science," says Prabir Dutta, distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State University. Four patent applications related to the discovery are pending. VeruTEK, a chemical innovations company based in South Windsor, Conn., has secured rights to some of the materials. One application, adsorption, which involves using a solid material to trap unwanted species, has a worldwide market potential estimated at $3.8 billion. "This market is huge," comments Suib. "Our materials are adsorbing as much as 35 times more than current commercial materials. That means one could either use less of our adsorbent material or use the same amount and it would last about 35 times longer!" Suib says there are also many different catalytic applications, including the conversion of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into new chemicals. And fuels that have economic value, like renewable energy storage, and as an ingredient to make polymers and new materials. With more research, other applications could include using these new materials as selective membranes with applications ranging from producing clean air for enhancing human respiration, to slow-release pharmaceutical drugs and even longer-lasting battery materials for green energy storage. For 20 years scientists have relied on a water-based procedure to create mesoporous materials that has limitations. UConn's chemists took another route, choosing to replace the water- based process with a synthetic chemical surfactant, similar to a detergent, to create the pores in the material. This process generated thermally controlled, thermally stable, uniform mesoporous materials with very strong crystalline walls. The pores are created by the gaps formed between the organized nanoparticles when they cluster together. The team found that the size of those gaps or pores could be tailored — increased or decreased — by adjusting the nanostructure's exposure to heat, a major advancement in the synthesis process. The team also found that the process could be applied to a wide variety of periodic table elements. Plus, the surfactant can be recycled and used after it is extracted with no harm to the final product. The research was funded through a $420,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences division. Connecticut's commitment to being a leader in the bioscience industry," says Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The state reaped its first major dividend a short time later, when Jackson Laboratories, (JAX) a world leader in genetic research, announced it was opening a $1-billion personalized medicine research facility at the UConn Health campus. "Because of Connecticut's ideal location between New York City and Boston, its world-class colleges and universities, and its existing work in the bioscience field — it made perfect sense to come here," notes Dr. Edison Liu, JAX's president and CEO. Now under construction, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine will initially house more than 300 researchers and staff members, with a long-range expectation of more than 600 workers on site. With the addition of state-of-the-art labs for immunology, vascular biology, neuroscience, and cellular and molecular biology as part of the Bioscience project, UConn Health is set to become a top-tier research facility. UConn funding from federal and industry research grants is expected to double and the resulting discoveries, patents, and licenses will encourage new business spinoffs, creating more jobs and high-tech companies to further bolster Connecticut's economy. "Basic research and lab discoveries are what drive commercial possibilities," explains Marc Lalande, UConn's executive director of genomics and personalized medicine programs. "The recruitment of outstanding faculty members with new and complementary areas of research expertise will play a key role in helping bring entrepreneurial start-up companies to Connecticut." Transforming the next generation The Governor and the state's legislative leaders followed Bioscience Connecticut's success by unveiling Next Generation Connecticut, a $1.5-billion, 10-year initiative designed to dramatically enhance UConn's pioneering research and development efforts and vital STEM education programs. The initiative is projected to bring in more than $270 million in new Steven L. Suib Research Pushes Industry to New Heights Continued on next page >

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