The purpose of this proposal is to create a water-based reversible adhesive using commodity materials that is inexpensive, scalable, and environmentally friendly. The target impact of this research is a commercially successful adhesive that has widespread applications, particularly in areas where recycling is important, such as bottle labelling. Other areas, such as automotive parts and e-waste management, would also benefit by supporting a design for an environment approach in which, at the end of the first life cycle, products can be dismantled, and parts repurposed. The technology can also function as a simple water-based adhesive to replace other glues based on volatile organic compounds. The premise is simple: a surface coated with a positively charged polymer can adhere to one coated with a negatively charged polymer. These will stick in water and remain adhered even after the contact has dried. Changing the local pH changes the charge on the polyelectrolytes so that, in an acid pH, the polyacid will become neutral. The polybase will remain charged and the adhesion fails. Previous demonstrations of reversible adhesion have required the end-user to perform significant chemistry. Here we are proposing a simple route to reversible adhesion based on a standard polymerization process. The surfaces to be adhered would each be coated by separate layers and joined. Adhesion is expected to be instantaneous and durable. Unlike other water-based adhesives, exposure to moisture would not compromise the joint. An acid or alkaline wash would be used to separate the two components. A rapid and effective means of disjoining requires significant research and forms a large part of this proposal. In addition, the spray coating of polyelectrolytes onto surfaces will also be explored as a simple route to adhesion for a limited range of applications. The technology will be validated in collaboration with partner companies.

Industry is responsible for 25% of carbon dioxide emissions from the European Union with around 60% of these emissions coming from the energy-intensive chemical, petrol refining, cement, steel and cement industries. The products of these process plants are fundamental to the global economy however many of the corresponding manufacturing processes are operating at (or are close to) their maximum practical efficiency. This reduces the impact of any future efficiency improvement measures in reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions across the sector. Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (ICCS) is considered by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the "most important technology" to decarbonise the industrial sector. This technology couples into industrial process plants, separates out the carbon dioxide and transports it to a suitable location for long term underground storage. In this way, the process plants are no longer venting unwanted carbon dioxide emissions directly into the atmosphere. Whilst many of the key components in ICCS have been demonstrated in pilot scale projects, the deployment of a full scale system remains a challenge due to the high capital costs associated with developing the infrastructure for carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage. One effective means to address these issues is to share the burden by developing regional clusters of industrial process plants which all feed into a common ICCS network. This project brings together a strong academic team from Newcastle University, Imperial College and Cambridge University with significant technical support from the International Energy Agency, industrial technical experts, various CCS clusters and demonstration sites. The project will be the first of its kind to evaluate multiple potential ICCS clusters planned worldwide and assess their impact on products and consumers. It will mainly focus on a cluster planned in Teesside, UK featuring a steel furnace, ammonia manufacturing site, a hydrogen reforming facility, and a chemical plant. It will collate technical data from many of the pilot demonstrations in the United States and Europe to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the required operation of other relevant energy intensive process plants such as petroleum refineries and cement production sites. This technical data will be used to develop a set of software design tools for the planning of ICCS clusters and develop a means to optimise their operation. In addition, a robust set of economic analysis tools will be developed to support evaluation of the economics and costs associated with the technology. The impact on the supply chain will be assessed through a comprehensive outreach and public engagement exercise. Ideas for new low-carbon products will be developed and their costs evaluated. This process will include surveys and focus groups to gain opinions and data from key stakeholders who operate in the supply chains of planned ICCS clusters. This will include regular communication with business-to-business customers right through to end-users and consumers. This will be used to gain a greater understanding of attitudes towards these potential lower-carbon products and to assess the strength of consumer pull under multiple carbon pricing/policy scenarios.

The future 'Net Zero Economy' will be based on new forms of energy (e.g., renewable electricity and hydrogen), new feedstocks (sustainably sourced biological and waste materials), and a new depth of data. These changes present particular problems for the process industries (bulk and fine chemicals, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and utilities etc). To 'Engineer Net Zero' in these industries, they must undergo the most profound transformation since the industrial revolution. To accommodate these new energy types, novel feedstocks and new data, entirely new processes, process technologies and green chemical routes will have to be developed. The scale of the challenge is enormous; manufacturing alone accounts for ~10% of the total economic output of the UK (£203bn Gross Value Added) and ~7% of UK jobs (HMG, 2022). Research Challenges: The PINZ CDT will help to 'Engineer Net Zero' by developing new processes, green chemistries, and process technologies, via Research for Technology Transfer (O2) at the interfaces of process and chemical engineering, and the biological, chemical and data sciences. Our Research Themes (T) have been informed by and co-created with industry: (T1) Energy: The use of renewable electricity and hydrogen demands new ways to perform process steps (reactions, separations, heat transfer) and whole process design. (T2) Feedstocks: Sustainable feedstocks/raw materials and solvents (bio-based, carbon-neutral, waste-derived), will force the development of new process chemistry and technology. (T3) Data: The increasing quantity and quality of data (in-process, LCA, TEA) will dramatically change how we design, operate, and monitor processes. Training Challenges: Build Back Better: Our Plan for Growth (HMT, 2021), and The UK Innovation Strategy: Leading the Future by Creating It (BEIS, 2021) highlight a strategic focus on skills development, innovation, and Net Zero to transform the UK into a global science and engineering superpower. To meet these substantial challenges and maintain the UK as a technology hub and global leader in innovation in the process industries, the UK requires pioneering, innovative, and knowledgeable chemical engineers/chemists. These world-class, doctoral-level graduates will not only be required to navigate these challenges: they will need to lead the change. The PINZ CDT will create these 'Net Zero-enabled' future leaders via a nurturing, supportive and collaborative training environment, which will equip the researchers with the tools to develop, analyse, evaluate, and implement new technologies and processes during their projects and future careers. Student-Centred Training (O1) will underpin everything we do, tailoring research training both at the individual and CDT level, alongside the provision of the management, entrepreneurship, and business skills that industry demands. Throughout their training, we will facilitate peer-to-peer interactions within and across cohorts to build a community and engender a broad exchange of ideas. This is especially important when working with students from diverse academic and personal backgrounds and recognises the contribution diversity makes to a challenge on the scale of Net Zero. Delivery: PINZ will be led by the world's largest Process Intensification Group (PIG, Newcastle University), and the world-leading Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (GCCE, University of York), leveraging >40 years of combined experience in technology transfer and >40 ongoing industrial partnerships. Only through this combination of the 'biggest and best' can the internationally leading education, training, and research needed to produce the next generation of leaders and innovators for Net Zero be realised.

There are significant concerns about the UK's ability to meet national and international climate change targets and long term security of supply. There exists many opportunities to improve the efficient use of thermal energy in existing buildings/plants and modes of transport and to give greater consideration to thermal energy management in future designs. Industrial consumption accounted for 18% of total UK final energy consumption in 2011. Within this industrial sector, heat use (space heating, drying/separation, high/low temperature processing) accounts for over 70% of total UK industrial energy use. The market potential for waste heat is estimated to be between 10TWh - 40TWh per annum. Recent developments in energy processing and the need for CO2 reduction have led to a growing interest in using this heat. SMEs account for 45% of industrial energy use but their processes and plants are often less efficient, largely due to the financial cost of optimisation . It is therefore important to ensure support and focus is given to SMEs, particularly addressing the barriers to effective thermal use applicable to this part of the economy. Commercial and residential buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the UK's total non-transport energy use, with space heating and hot water accounting for almost 80% of residential and 60% of commercial energy use between sectors. Marine and rail transport contribute over 14 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to UK annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and similar opportunities to those in the industrial and building sectors to reduce thermal energy demand exist. The adoption of increasingly stringent emissions legislation and increasing fuel costs have made it even more important that the thermal energy in the power and propulsion is optimised, for example through greater energy recovery and storage. The SusTEM Network will build upon the success of the PRO-TEM Network and expanding its remit. This will include the engagement of researchers with social and economic expertise and widening the network through further engagement with industry, particularly SMEs, academia and government and policy makers (local and national) who have not previously participated in the PRO-TEM Network. SusTEM Network will have the following key objectives: 1. Provide a forum to incorporate stakeholder opinions in the area of thermal energy management for the industrial, building, and transport sectors. 2. Engage with multi-disciplinary researchers within the research community at UK HE institutions, including End Use Energy Demand Centres, to maximise dissemination, impact, reach and significance of research outcomes. 3. Stimulate knowledge transfer between academia, industry, government and other stakeholders. 4. Identify and promote future research requirements based on partner contributions, road-mapping and links to Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN), European Technology Platforms (ETP) and other relevant networks and initiatives. 5. Foster long-term collaboration between outstanding research teams in the UK and China and to ensure there is a two way transfer of knowledge.

Decarbonising both heating and cooling across residential, business and industry sectors is fundamental to delivering the recently announced net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. Such a monumental change to this sector can only be delivered through the collective advancement of science, engineering and technology combined with prudent planning, demand management and effective policy. The aim of the proposed H+C Zero Network will be to facilitate this through funded workshops, conferences and secondments which in combination will enable researchers, technology developers, managers, policymakers and funders to come together to share their progress, new knowledge and experiences. It will also directly impact on this through a series of research funding calls which will offer seed funding to address key technical, economic, social, environmental and policy challenges. The proposed Network will focus on the following five themes which are essential for decarbonising heating and cooling effectively: Theme 1 Primary engineering technologies and systems for decarbonisation Theme 2 Underpinning technologies, materials, control, retrofit and infrastructure Theme 3 Future energy systems and economics Theme 4 Social impact and end users' perspectives Theme 5 Policy Support and leadership for the transition to net-zero