Impact have won an Innovate UK funding competition for their disruptive new plastic ceramic composite material which has the opportunity to create a step change in the performance and uses of composites in construction, transportation and aerospace.
The materials and manufacturing call, run by InnovateUK, awards the most innovative and potentially rewarding technologies within the UK. This recent award further underlines the success Impact’s team is having in R&D, having recently commercialised two other technologies born out of InnovateUK funding competitions.
PolyCi is a new lightweight, highly fire resistant composite material with applications from construction to transportation. This material will provide a step change in performance over plastics with regards to it’s extreme fire resistance performance whilst also being lighter than metal or concrete. Due to how the material is formed through combining an organic polymer and an inorganic phase during the extrusion process, the material can be processed like a plastic and has the fire resistant properties of a ceramic.
Over the next year the Innovate UK project will allow Impact to refine the manufacturing process of PolyCi to ensure a commercial system is in place, along with an initial seeding of the market with fire door profiles. Further work will see collaboration with industry to develop other applications such as wall, floor and ceiling applications.
While initial markets for PolyCi have been identified, Impact are looking to collaborate with other partners from a broad range of industries. Opportunities are available for partnerships and licensing for a range of industries. Interested parties should get in touch with their Innovation Manager, Tom Rose (tom.rose@impact-solutions.co.uk). Alternatively, you can visit www.impact-innovations.co.uk.
