A pioneering Nottingham advanced materials firm, Promethean Particles, has appointed three new members of staff after embarking on a major project designed to help the fight against climate change.
Promethean Particles, based in Midland Way, made the appointments in the wake of launching Project REMBRANDT, which aims to scale up the production of a class of advanced materials known as MOFs.
MOFs – which stands for metal-organic frameworks – are tiny crystal structures which have extremely large internal surface areas and can be used for a variety of purposes, including trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) created by the burning of industrial fuels.
Promethean Particles has patented a unique method to make MOFs in large quantities and is now manufacturing them on a much bigger scale than has been previously attempted.
The company launched Project REMBRANDT after winning a £2.1m grant through the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme, with the funding coming from the UK
Government.
The funding has helped to accelerate the company’s growth ambitions, including the expansion of its team. The new starters – Andreas Must, Chitra Goel and Aaron Taylor – will work on increasing the production volumes of MOFs in cost-effective ways, while also helping to develop them for carbon capture and other industrial uses.
James Stephenson, chief executive officer at Promethean Particles, said: “Launching Project REMBRANDT has enabled us to take a huge step forward, including the recruitment of key new staff such as Andreas, Chitra, and Aaron.
“Their appointments will help us accelerate our mission to unleash the power of MOFs by more effectively leveraging the numerous advantages of our proprietary manufacturing technology, helping our customers achieve a more energy-efficient carbon capture solution.”
Estonian-born Andreas, who joins Promethean Particles straight from university as a manufacturing engineer, said, “Promethean is doing something unique that has the potential to help change the world.
“I joined because I wanted to experience something new, learn how these cutting edge materials are produced, and how they are taken from the research laboratory and scaled up into production.”
Chitra worked on a carbon capture project at the University of Swansea before taking on her new role as a senior application engineer. She added: “The work that Promethean Particles is doing with MOFs could make a real difference, and I was interested in the novelty and the potential that they hold.
“MOFs will support the next generations of technology that will be useful for abating the climate change that we are seeing every day around the world.”
And Aaron, who previously worked in the chemical industry for 6 years and joins Promethean Particles as a process development engineer, said working at the firm was an opportunity to help make a difference.
“The company has a commitment to decarbonising the energy sector which will be vitally important to our country in reaching its net zero goals, which strongly aligns with my own personal values.”
Winning the funding for Project REMBRANDT was a highly competitive process, where more than 600 companies applied for the prestigious funding opportunity, and fewer than 150 applicants were selected for the interview stage.
Promethean Particles was subsequently one of under 50 companies to be awarded a share of €350m and one of only three companies selected from the UK.
Its work is now attracting the attention of organisations who need to abate their emissions, as well as the engineering companies who design and manufacture equipment that would house the MOFs and ultimately capture the CO2.
Promethean Particles is a participant in the Horizon Europe EIC Project REMBRANDT and is supported by UKRI grant 10111050.
This story was written and shared on behalf of Promethean Particles by Simon Burch. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch.
