[November 19, 2015]

Solvay to Join in Research Collaboration Funded by US National Science Foundation to Develop New, Nano-Based Materials for Disaster and Emergency Applications

Chemical producer Solvay will share in the research and innovation work to be conducted under a recently-announced US National Science Foundation grant to develop nano technologies for applications in disaster and emergency response materials.

The research initiative is designed to develop materials for multifunctional coatings on emergency tents, enabling them to manage water, prevent the spread of bacteria and capture and store solar energy.

The $3.6 million NSF grant was awarded late last month to the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) which participates in a research consortium with Solvay and the French National Research Laboratories (Centre Nationale Recherche Scientifique, or CNRS). The France-based Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies (GIANT) is the main international research partner on the grant. The inter-disciplinary and multi-national consortium was awarded the grant under the NSF Partnership for International Research and Education (NSF PIRE) call, entitled "Research and Education on Active Coating Technologies" (REACT).

Solvay, CNRS and UPenn have collaborated in a joint research venture called Complex Assemblies of Soft Matter, or COMPASS, since 2009.

"Recognition in the form of this NSF grant is a welcome endorsement of Solvay's collaborative research approach, and represents another milestone in the growth of open innovation activity for Solvay in North America," according to Dr. Francine Palmer, Solvay Research & Innovation Director for North America. "Over the past years, we have demonstrated the benefits of collaboration among prominent private, academic and government research organizations," she added.

"The primary focus of the REACT initiative seeks to develop techologies and materials that could prove invaluable to emergency response teams working in the most difficult and demanding conditions," explained Dr. Ryan Murphy, who coordinates Solvay's participation in the grant. "Even more, the research and knowledge gained through this grant could be leveraged to impact a variety of markets and technologies of interest to Solvay.

"More specifically, Solvay can provide comprehensive industrial coatings expertise to the REACT projects. Understanding processing conditions, scale-up considerations, formulations and other technical challenges, may be critical to the potential commercialization of these exciting active coating technologies," Murphy noted.

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As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world's top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aerospace or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society's quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 26,000 people in 52 countries and generated 10.2 billion euros in net sales in 2014. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on EURONEXT in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg (News - Alert): SOLB.BB - Reuters (News - Alert): SOLBT.BR).

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