New Czech Centre for Polymer Materials and Technologies
photo: (Stanislava Kyselová, Akademický bulletin a Vladimír Raus, ÚMCH)
Czech scientists have a new facility, instruments and other equipment to be used for the research of polymer materials and technologies. The new Science Centre will undertake, among other things, the research of technologies for recycling polyurethane foam from wrecked cars in order to transform unwanted voluminous waste into raw materials to be used for new parts.
The Otto Wichterle Centre for Polymer Materials and Technologies is a part of the
Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR. The name of the
inventor of gel contact lenses was not given to the institute by chance. It was Professor Wichterle who founded the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry and occupied himself with polymer chemistry.
The scientists in the centre will conduct polymer research for use in electronics. In addition, they plan to develop identification labels for product wrapping which will provide information about changing chemical composition or durability. The state-of-the-art instruments and devices in the centre will be also used for research in the field of artificial joint materials with the aim to increase their reliability and service life. Moreover, the centre will become a background facility for education in the area of macromolecular technologies designed both for students and industrial specialists. The centre was built with support from EU funding.