EPSRC logo

Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/C52554X/1
Title: Creating a Colourful Life
Principal Investigator: Weller, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Dann, Dr S
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Holliday Pigments Ltd Johnson Matthey Merck Ltd
Natural History Museum Nutshell Pigments SETPOINT
Snibstone Discovery Park
Department: Sch of Chemistry
Organisation: University of Southampton
Scheme: PPE PreFEC
Starts: 23 June 2005 Ends: 22 December 2007 Value (£): 109,446
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
A world without coloured materials would be very dull indeed - we like to be able to chose the colour of a car or of our cosmetics, we enjoy artwork created with the full artist's palette, we use attractive and hard-to counterfeit banknotes and stamps, we want to be able to select a shade of paint to decorate our homes. The range of coloured materials ( called pigments) we use has been developed over many centuries, initially from natural minerals but more recently by the ingenuity of the chemist. This research continues with the need for better, more intense colours, environmentallyfriendly materials and new speciality pigments that can, for example, change colour.We will develop the Public Awareness of colour and coloured materials, emphasising ongoing research, through a number of initiatives that will seek to inform both adults and school children in enjoyable and accessible ways. This will be achieved through displays and exhibitions in museums, art galleries, science centres and science festivals. We will also assemble and provide lectures and demonstrations ( including hands-on activities) suitable for people with little scientific background informing them about the colourful world we live in and what might be possible in the future through continuing research on pigments. We will involve major UK pigment manufacturers and users in these initiatives and further engage public interest in coloured materials through open days and school visits to their sites. Examples of such activities that relate coloured materials to everyday life will include the importance of natural pigments in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, pigments in art including history and how pigments are manufactured in the 21st century. Demonstration and hands on activities will include how pigments can be extracted or made from natural minerals, how to make colour and paint and how particle size, including nanoparticles, makes all the difference to a pigment. We will also develop electronic resources for help in teaching relevant areas of the National Curriculum including Science in the 21st Century.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Summary
Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:  
Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.soton.ac.uk