The company can now boost its UK manufacturing capability of absorbent granules that remove hazardous pollutants from water to five tonnes per year.
This smart material targets PFAS (Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), also known as ‘forever chemicals’, found in everyday products and responsible for contaminating the world’s food and drinking water supply and causing cancer.
However, a critical bottleneck for Puraffinity was gaining detailed insight and assurance on the product’s stability and safety. After securing funding from Innovate UK’s Analysis for Innovator’s (A4I) funding programme, the company partnered with the National Measurement Laboratory where it used equipment to speed up to speed up its development cycle and improve the data integrity of its quality assurance and quality control processes.
The methods developed de-risked the product development process, reduced discovery-design-synthesis cycles, facilitated more precise production scale-up, mitigated batch variations and increased yields.
Puraffinity can now provide prospective clients assurance of the safety and the long-term stability of the products, a crucial element in commercialising public health innovations through water treatment.
Commenting on Puraffinity's experience of the A4I programme, Henrik Hagemann, CEO said: "Innovate UK's A4I programme has transformed our business. Funded access to cutting-edge R&D and expertise has accelerated our capacity to use cutting-edge materials science and creative engineering to benefit human health and the environment.
“We’re thrilled about our growth prospects and the opportunity to develop into an emerging materials science leader with UK-based manufacturing. We’re also looking to continue working with the team at the National Measurement Laboratory who have become a part of the extended Puraffinity network.”