The Applied Polymer Technologies Gateway, also known as APT, is a national centre dedicated to polymer research, funded by the Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway Network APT operates under the umbrella of the PRISM Research Institute at the Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone campus.
APT is complimented by CISD the (Centre for Industrial Services and Design), which provides expert knowledge and facilities for analytical testing and product development. APT acts as an industry-led research hub supporting Irish-based plastics and polymer companies in creating solutions to overcome current challenges faced by industry. By delivering technology solutions close to their market needs and acting as an open access point for industries of all sizes, APT is a dedicated resource for the Irish polymer manufacturing industry and regularly provides training and information dissemination, in addition to production demonstration days for companies with a proven track record of delivering results.
Since its formation in 2013, APT has successfully completed over 825 projects with companies, amounting to a total value of over €5.3 million. This impressive track record showcases the value that companies recognize in partnering with APT and gaining access to our extensive knowledge base and cutting-edge equipment suites
What facilities and technologies are available at APT?
APT provides access to both academic and industrial collaborators to a range of industry-relevant polymer processing equipment. This equipment is housed in the recently renovated APT research facility which includes state-of-the-art equipment for injection moulding, extrusion, compounding and polymer-based additive manufacturing. These facilities are strongly supported by Enterprise Ireland through their Capital Equipment funding calls (2019-2022) and through partnerships with equipment suppliers such as Arburg UK, TSM Controls and Sumitomo Demag:
Some of our equipment that is housed in APT are as follows:
Circular Plastics suite, consisting of depolymerisation and repolymerisation equipment, to enable specialist sustainable processing to supply highly sought circular plastics solutions for the textile, food and medical packaging industries.
Reactive Extruder, enabling high throughput green chemical depolymerisation of plastics creating new virgin to virgin loops and generation of fermentable feeds for currently unrecyclable plastics.
Scanning Thermal Microscope capable of nano thermal analysis (nanoTA) of packaging constructs. This enables the AFM imaging and thermal analysis of separate layers within a multilayer construct. The machine is an Oxford Instruments Jupiter XR.
Oxygen transmission rate analyser, which measures the volume of oxygen passing through a plastic material, per unit of area and time, under unit partial pressure difference between the two sides of the material according to the ISO 15105-2: Plastics –Film and sheeting –Determination of gas-transmission rate –Part 2: Equal-pressure method.
Five-layer multilayer cast film line, XRD and a mapping FTIR equipment.
Water Vapour Permeation Analyser measures the passage of water vapour through a polymer substrate and reports the rate of water vapour transmission per unit area per unit of vapour pressure differential under test conditions. Water vapour transmission rate is expressed in grams per square metre 24 hours [g/ (m2â‹…24 h)]. Measurements are carried out in accordance with the ASTM F3299 -18 Standard Test Method for Water Vapour Transmission Rate Through Plastic Film and Sheeting Using an Electrolytic Detection Sensor (Coulometric P2O5 Sensor).
What types of companies does APT work with?
The APT Gateway provides world-class solutions for SMEs and multinational companies using polymer materials across the medical, composite, recycling and pharmaceutical sectors.
How can APT help your company?
Using its suite of characterisation equipment and pilot polymer processing facilities, APT can cover all areas of the design and production lifecycle. This capacity ranges from concept design and prototype development towards commercial launch of a development product, production optimisation and troubleshooting for existing processes and end of life recycling. By using 3D additive printing, APT can fabricate customised injection mould tooling which, married with its pilot production facilities, can produce a limited run of bespoke prototypes.
APT engages with industry partners via several platforms:
- Contract Research & Development
- Short-term projects to develop solutions to specific problems or develop clearly identified technologies
- Commercialisation of APT-developed technology offerings
- Long-term development projects with industry partners to investigate innovative technologies or materials with identified industrial application
To find out more about the APT Technology Gateway check out their page and follow them on Twitter for all the latest news and events!