九州影院

Q&A with UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy 

What was your role within the team?

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul: I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool, working on electrochemical CO₂ conversion to valuable chemicals. I also collaborate with members in the Centre who are experts in materials characterisation, modelling, and technoeconomic analysis. I took part in outreach activities such as school visits and science festivals.

Professor Bing Xu: As Theme 3 Lead on 鈥楶olicy, Society and Finance鈥�, my role focuses on addressing the non-technological barriers that hold back the adoption of circular practices, and on developing practical, real-world solutions. Achieving a circular chemical economy requires a holistic, system-wide approach that brings together businesses, policymakers, consumers, financiers, and innovators to drive transformative change. Through a range of activities, our team has implemented a systematic and integrated strategy to advance circular economy practices, delivering tangible benefits for both businesses and the public, while providing policymakers with evidence-based, actionable insights.

Dr Donald Inns: I was involved in the 鈥楨nabling Technologies鈥� theme, where I focused on developing heterogeneous catalysts for the chemical recycling of waste plastics to high value liquid alkane mixtures.

Dr Lucy Elphick: As Centre Manager in the final year of the project, my role was to coordinate the production project鈥檚 final report video showcases and animation as well the financial reporting across the nine different institutes.

Professor Peter Styring: I was the Policy Lead on the project, looking to develop new policy recommendations for the practical implementation of a circular chemical economy, from environmental legislation to ethical funding.

Qianqian Ma: I contributed to the investigation of non-technical aspects of the circular economy in the chemical industry, focusing on case study design, data analysis, and result interpretation. I also engaged in cross-disciplinary discussions. As a young PhD student, I feel lucky to begin my research career in such a supportive, diverse, and collaborative team鈥攁n experience that will shape my future work.

What were the biggest challenges in this project?

Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez: Coordinating a multidisciplinary team to advance chemicals鈥� circularity presents challenges in aligning diverse expertise, terminologies, and research priorities. However, fostering open communication, shared goals, and collaborative frameworks enabled the integration of scientific, engineering, and societal perspectives. Our team has successfully navigated these challenges, promoting impactful research while actively engaging with the public, policymakers, and industry to drive awareness and action towards a more sustainable and circular chemical future.

What different strengths did different people bring to the team?

Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez: Fundamental science is a critical enabler for advancing technologies that support the circularity of chemicals, offering the insights necessary to turn innovative concepts into scalable, real-world solutions. By revealing the molecular principles behind catalytic processes, reaction mechanisms, and material behaviours, our research creates the foundational knowledge that guides the rational design of catalysts and processes with enhanced efficiency and sustainability.

This scientific understanding drives technological progress and ensures that emerging solutions are scalable, adaptable, and robust enough to meet the challenges of industrial implementation. By focusing on reducing waste and maximising resource efficiency, fundamental science bridges the gap between discovery and practical application, paving the way for a sustainable, circular chemical industry that addresses both environmental and economic concerns. This scientific foundation will allow us to create solutions that are not only technically feasible but also resilient, ensuring long-term success and driving systemic change in line with sustainability goals.

Professor Bing Xu: The strength of this project lies in its whole-systems and interdisciplinary approach. Our team brought together leading experts in chemistry, engineering, finance, social science, management, and policy. This diversity enabled us to examine the complex interactions between technology, society, and markets, resulting in integrated solutions for circularity. Each discipline contributed critical perspectives, from materials innovation and life cycle analysis to behavioural change and investment strategy, making the research both innovative and impactful.

Why is this work so important and exciting?

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul: With the supply of renewable electricity becoming more abundant (80 % of new power generation was renewables in recent years), technologies powered by electricity are becoming more important. With electrochemical CO₂ conversion, this can enable a carbon-negative process where CO₂ is converted into valuable fuels and chemicals, which will be crucial for industries with emissions that are difficult to abate.

Dr Donald Inns: The challenge of reducing our dependence on fossil resources, through utilisation of renewable carbon is a key challenge in modern society, especially due to the need to achieve net zero emissions and reduce waste. Therefore, the development of technologies, both emerging and at scale, and understanding the social and policy drivers needed to achieve a circular economy is vastly important and an exciting challenge.

Qianqian Ma: Works from our team highlight the vital role of socio-technical aspects in supporting the development and implementation of circular economy technologies. While technical innovation is crucial, understanding the social, organizational, and policy dimensions is equally important for real impact. The circular economy holds great promise for a more sustainable future, and contributing to this transformation feels both timely and meaningful.

Dr Tom Franklin: The chemical industry is of huge societal and economic importance, but it must transition to non-fossil feedstocks and sources of energy to make a meaningful impact towards more sustainable practices. This work will have a lasting positive impact for future generations and the outputs from this project will help to shape future technology, financial and policy directions.

How will this work be used in real life applications?

Professor Peter Styring: Our work will be used to create a framework for the development of novel manufacturing of the chemicals that are embedded in everyday life. It will help us create a path forward for a just industrial transition.

Dr Tom Franklin: Products and derivatives from the chemical sector permeate our everyday lives. From the fuels, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers and plastics we use, we will all benefit from a transition to a circular chemical economy.

How do you see this work developing over the next few years, and what is next for this technology/research?

Professor Alex Cowan: Current densities, energy efficiencies and conversion yields of electrolysers for carbon dioxide reduction have rapidly improved under lab testing conditions. The next step will be to increase the durability of devices and to start to move towards 鈥渞eal-world鈥� scenarios, for example with lower purity carbon dioxide feeds. It is vital that the community developing the chemistry of these devices also continues to work with the engineering community to understand future challenges around scale-up.

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul: Electrochemical CO₂ conversion is at a critical stage where it has been shown to work at the lab level, and now we need to consider more realistic, real-world, industrial conditions, with size and time scales orders of magnitude larger than what has been achieved in the lab. In the next 5-10 years we should start seeing pilot scale demonstrators being built, eventually leading up to production on the scale of hundreds of tons per day.

Professor Bing Xu: Over the next few years, this work will evolve to address increasingly complex and dynamic real-world challenges by further integrating science, policy, and finance. Our research will focus on developing actionable policy tools, innovative financial mechanisms, and system-level decision-support frameworks that accelerate the transition to circularity. We also aim to expand international collaborations and co-create solutions that help stakeholders from governments to industry, navigate the transition with greater clarity, confidence, and impact.

What inspires or motivates your team?

Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez: Our team is inspired by the vision of creating a sustainable and circular chemical industry that can contribute meaningfully to addressing the global challenges of climate change, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. The drive to innovate, coupled with a shared belief in the power of fundamental science to unlock practical, real-world solutions, motivates us to push the boundaries of catalytic technologies and chemical processes.

We are particularly motivated by the opportunity to bridge the gap between theoretical advancements and industrial implementation, making a tangible impact on sectors like energy, agriculture, and manufacturing. The interdisciplinary nature of our work, the opportunity to collaborate with a wide range of experts, and the potential to drive systemic change further fuels our passion for developing scalable, environmentally responsible technologies for a sustainable future.

Professor Alex Cowan: A fantastic opportunity exists to move to systems where we get the carbon feedstocks needed for society from wastes. The idea of taking a problem carbon source, such as waste plastic, CO₂ or waste bio-mass products to generate the materials and molecules that society needs, displacing fossil derived carbon, is incredibly exciting and we feel very luck as team to be able to deliver work that moves us towards this goal.

Professor Bing Xu: We are motivated by the urgency of building a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. Our team is inspired by the opportunity to work across disciplinary boundaries, creating real-world impact through research, engagement, and collaboration. The complexity of the circular economy challenge motives us to think creatively, work inclusively, and remain committed to research that informs strategic business decisions, and deliver positive outcomes for the environment and society outcomes.

What is the importance of collaboration in the chemical sciences?

Professor Alex Cowan: Collaboration is essential! No single person can hold all the expertise required to move a fundamental concept through to a new technology. Our team draws on the expertise of materials chemists, spectroscopists, chemical engineers and economists amongst many others!

Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul: Electrochemical CO₂ conversion is at a critical stage where it has been shown to work at the lab level, and now we need to consider more realistic, real-world, industrial conditions, with size and time scales orders of magnitude larger than what has been achieved in the lab. In the next 5-10 years we should start seeing pilot scale demonstrators being built, eventually leading up to production on the scale of hundreds of tons per day.

Dr Donald Inns: The multidisciplinary team within this project meant new technologies were developed alongside research in process integration and whole system optimisation, and policy, society, and finance. This enabled a comprehensive body of interconnected work on how new technologies and the path to a circular economy can be achieved, with this depth of research only possible due to the wide-ranging collaborative nature of the project.

Dr Jonathan Wagner: Collaboration is essential for developing sustainable, whole system solutions, that combine scientific discovery with the development and assessment of scalable processes. The required expertise spans many different research fields, from molecular simulation, material science and catalysis to system design, process modelling and life cycle analysis, and even business, economics, and social sciences.

Professor Peter Styring: Without transdisciplinary research we miss out on learning from other disciplines, avoiding mistakes that can be made in a siloed system.

What does good research culture look like or mean to you?

Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez: To me, a good research culture fosters collaboration, open communication, and a shared commitment to excellence and innovation. It鈥檚 an environment where diverse perspectives are valued, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking and the free exchange of ideas.

Researchers should feel empowered to challenge assumptions, explore new approaches, and learn from successes and failures. A positive research culture also prioritises inclusivity, supporting the growth and well-being of all team members while promoting ethical practices and responsible research. Above all, it鈥檚 a culture driven by a collective passion for solving real-world problems and making a meaningful impact on society, focusing on long-term sustainability and societal benefit.

Dr Jonathan Wagner: Good research culture provides a safe and supportive environment that enables researchers to exchange ideas, skills and knowledge to enhance the quality and relevance of their research. It starts with a general curiosity of activities outside one鈥檚 immediate field, to provide feedback and learn new approaches and methods. It involves sharing of equipment and other resources to provide a more complete picture of underlying processes. It requires mutual respect, trust and honesty to ensure fairly attribution of research contributions.

Dr Lucy Elphick: Good research culture has respect and encouragement engrained at every level.  I was consistently impressed at the culture within CircularChem, with all voices being heard and respected from PhD student to Professor. The management from the leaders and Co-Is of the centre has been an excellent example of good research culture and one I was proud to be part of.

Qianqian Ma: To me, good research culture is one that is inclusive, supportive, and collaborative. At the CircularChem centre, I experienced a culture where interdisciplinary dialogue was encouraged, early-career researchers were supported, and different perspectives were valued. As an early-career researcher, I feel empowered to contribute when mentoring is prioritised, and both success and failure are seen as part of the learning journey. To me, it's not just about outcomes, but about how we collaborate and grow together throughout the process.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in the chemical sciences?

Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez: My advice to a young person considering a career in the chemical sciences would be to stay curious and embrace the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The chemical sciences offer a wide range of opportunities, from fundamental research to applied technologies and the ability to impact global challenges like sustainability, energy, and health.

Don鈥檛 be afraid to explore different areas, as chemistry increasingly intersects with fields like biology, engineering, and environmental science. Always strive for continuous learning, develop critical thinking skills, and seek mentors who can guide and inspire you. Most importantly, stay resilient 鈥� the path can be challenging, but the potential to contribute to transformative solutions is incredibly rewarding.

Dr Jonathan Wagner: Before starting a career in chemical sciences, try to work out what drives and interests you. Talk to as many practitioners as possible to understand what they do every day and seek out opportunities to complete work experiences within different fields. When embarking into new research, be patient and spend time in learning the fundamentals. Carefully plan what you want to achieve and regularly review and reflect on your results. Keep reminding yourself why you want to do research in the first place and reserve some time to follow up on your interests and unexpected results.

Dr Lucy Elphick: Our ability to make, use, reuse and recycle chemicals are key to a sustainable future and a career in chemical sciences has the potential to positively impact this.  Sustainability and circularity will be a key theme of industry and academia with chemical scientists playing an important role.