Halt the Closure of Chemistry Department at University of Hull

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) were a huge advancement in technology, that kicked off the flat screen revolution. The first working and commercialised LCD was created at the University of Hull a little over 50 years ago. So if you're on a laptop, a phone, or any screen, it's likely a descendent of the LCDs first made in this little University in the North of England.

Since then, the Chemistry Department at the University of Hull has been involved in solving issues among which plastic pollution and provides countless graduates to the local, national and international chemistry sector.  The Chemistry Department is heavily involved in different aspects of the circular plastics economy and has led a number of successful projects in the area including an EPSRC grant that brought together researchers from across the university.  This helped catalyze the formation of the Hull Plastics Collaboratory which now has many exciting projects relating to plastics. In particular, chemistry is at the forefront of producing new catalysts for biodegradable polymer production. Please see a few examples of research: 

1. Ring opening polymerization of lactides and lactones by multimetallic titanium complexes derived from the acids Ph2C(X)CO2H (X = OH, NH2). X. Zhang, T. J. Prior, K. Chen, O. Santoro and C. Redshaw, Catalysts, 2022, 12, 935. DOI: 10.3390/catal12090935
2. Synthesis of biodegradable polymers: a review on the use of Schiff-base metal complexes as catalysts for the Ring Opening Polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters. O. Santoro, X. Zhang and C. Redshaw, Catalysts 2020, 10, 800. DOI.org/10.3390/catal12090935
3. Comparative assessment of marine weathering of ROP-derived biopolymers against conventional plastics, Karen Rodgers and William M. Mayes and Orlando Santoro and Carl Redshaw and Rick Mccumskay and Daniel R. Parsons, 2021, 167 DOI.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112272

Other research from the Chemistry department at the University of Hull has focused on chemical recycling of plastics into fine chemicals, via sustainable approaches. Please see an  example of this research:

Photocatalytic Hydrolysis A Sustainable Option for the Chemical Upcycling of Polylactic Acid, Antonia Garratt, Klaudia Nguyen, Alexander Brooke, Martin J. Taylor, and Maria Grazia Francesconi DOI: 10.1021/acsenvironau.3c00040

The University now proposes to close the Department of Chemistry, hence abandoning this legacy and any future research and teaching in the subject. 

CLICK HERE to Sign the Petition to show your support of keeping this department open!