Materials: Setting the future research agenda for sustainable chemistry

Scientific research and innovations by chemical manufacturers have revolutionized the process ability and functionality of materials and often involved hybrid materials based on polymers. However, parties at the end of the value chain –the users of the material– also often have clear expectations towards the material properties that enable step changes in their specific segment of industry and society.

Gaining a good understanding of end users’ wishes for material properties is a crucial step for manufacturers and designers. Such input might pertain to the quality of materials, special properties of the materials or even combinations of materials that have not yet been produced.

The goal of the workshop is to define future research needs: a full value chain approach is needed to achieve a faster and more effective link between enabling industries and end-user requirements - with a focus on five areas:

• Automotive
• Solar energy
• Solid State Lighting
• Civil engineering
• Aviation / aerospace
Organised by the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) in close cooperation with the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI) and supported by the European Commission (DG Research), the event will take place on 3-4 Marh 2010 at the Jean Monnet Conference Centre in Luxembourg. More information: www.suschem.org