Federal Way, WA, August 14, 2020 – Boydston Chemical Innovations, Inc. has been awardeda US Army Research Labs (ARL) Cooperative Agreementfor$499,992, over a two year period, if ARL approves the option,to conduct research and development work entitled: Glass Fiber Towpregs from Metal-Free Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization Resins.
This Cooperative Agreement aims to develop experimental unidirectional towpreg samples and products that employ linear oligomers and copolymers made from dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). Experimental samples based on E-glass fiber will be sent to ARL for characterization and evaluation. The basis of the technology is new chemical reactivity that was recently discovered for producing high performance plastics and composites. This scientific advance is enabled by Metal-Free Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (MF-ROMP)—a unique catalyst-resin system. This program, with ARL, will both advance the technology and this platform to make composite products with outstanding properties. The technical effort includes: 1) identifying resin candidates for bonding the MF-ROMP materials to glass fibers; 2) trial towpregging and process optimization to improve composition of products and manufacturing efficiency; and 3) evaluation of reactor design and kinetics to understand how to make products efficiently and to best serve Army’s needs.
This Cooperative Agreement is sponsored by Army Research Office (ARO), “We drive cutting-edge and disruptive scientific discoveries that will enable crucial future Army technologies and capabilities through high-risk, high pay-off research opportunities. Our program managers competitively select and fund basic research proposals from educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and private industry to increase fundamental knowledge and understanding in the chemical, life, physical, engineering, materials, mechanical, computing, information, network, mathematical, earth, and social sciences, related to long-term national security needs.”
The other parties include: Boydston Chemical Innovations, Inc. (BCI), the prime contractor, was co-founded in 2017 by Dr. AJ Boydston, Dr. Laura Pascual, and John Goldstone. The company has exclusive license to and uses US 10,273,327 B2 patent from the University of Washington. The University of Wisconsin, Madison, “At the UW-Madison Department of Chemistry, world-class education and groundbreaking research go hand-in-hand to provide a collaborative and innovative environment for the thousands of students, faculty, and staff that we serve.” Century Design Incorporated (CDI), whose mission is, “To disrupt the composite processing world by providing proprietary machines with breakthrough technology, that help customers innovate, improve operating efficiencies, reduce costs, and grow with their needs.”
According to John Goldstone, President and CEO, “Boydston Chemical Innovations is delighted to work on this Cooperative Agreement, a tremendous opportunity for BCI. We’ve worked in the lab to advance our chemistry, and while we still have more work to do, this provides a pathway toward commercial products for use in both government (US Army) and industry. We also appreciate the opportunity to work with the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Century Design, and ARL to advance this technology toward ballistic resistant towpreg products.”