23. 1. 2023
Zlín has become a national center of polymer research competence. Scientists will deal with the issue of polymers and their impact on the environment.
Zlín 24/01/2023 – The staff of the Polymer Systems Center (CPS) of the Tomáš Bata University (UTB) in Zlín achieved a significant success. They succeeded in a demanding public competition announced by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TAČR) as part of the National Center of Competence program, which focuses on strengthening effective cooperation between research organizations and practice.
This unique project, entitled „National Center of Competence of Polymeric Materials and Technologies for the 21st Century“, is one of 18 projects that succeeded in the international evaluation of project proposals. These were submitted by Czech universities and institutes of the Academy of Sciences. As part of the National Centers of Competence program, this is the only project focused on the issue of polymers and their impact on the environment. CPS will be the coordinating workplace.
„It is a great honor and a challenge at the same time. Polymer research has a long-standing tradition in Zlín, and the acquired project indicates that the Center for Polymer Systems has achieved a significant position in its field at the national and international level in its 12 years of existence. I highly appreciate the concept of the National Centers of Competence program, which aims to link research with practice. We look forward to mutual cooperation with colleagues from other important and recognized research workplaces as well as from companies with high innovation potential,“ says the director of CPS and the main researcher of the project, prof. Vladimír Sedlarík.
It is a large-scale six-year project, the total costs of the consortium of solutions are almost 380 million crowns, while a quarter of these costs will be covered by the corporate sector. There is also a request to expand the project from the resources of the National Recovery Plan in the amount exceeding 140 million crowns. It involves 24 participants from universities, industrial partners and non-profit organizations dealing with polymer technologies and their impact on the environment.
The actual solution of the project includes a wide range of research tasks, the results of which have the prerequisite for early application in practice.“Specifically, these are, for example, projects aimed at increasing the efficiency and automating the process of sorting plastics during their recycling or finding new ways to efficiently obtain economically valuable substances from plastic waste,“ describes prof. Vladimír Sedlarík. The scientists will also deal with the development of materials that will serve their purpose longer. This means that they will be more resistant and durable, and there will be no need to waste energy and raw materials. They will also develop polymer materials that will be safer for end users in terms of flammability, release of harmful substances or resistance to the growth of bacteria, fungi and viruses.
The project will also address the issue of tire recycling, the use of renewable resources and waste for the production of polymers, or the detection and capture of today’s much-discussed microplastics.
„The main theme of all sub-projects is the responsible handling of materials and energy, ecologically friendly and safe approaches, taking into account the legislative and economic sense of emerging solutions,“ emphasizes prof. Vladimír Sedlarík.
