commercial ventures


tAkIng the stIck out of gum


As anyone who has ever sat on discarded chewing gum knows, the sticky mess is a nightmare to try and remove. Freeze it? Wash it? Pick it? That quandary could now be over with a major technological breakthrough from Revolymer, a spin-out company from the University of Bristol.


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Main picture: Snared by gum, we’ve all been there! Inset: Professor Terry Cosgrove, gum inventing polymer expert.


THIS ‘CLEAN GUM’ – which was launched into the US gum market in 2010 – can be removed easily from shoes, clothes and even hair. And, in great news for local councils trying to keep their pavements clean, more than 50 per cent can be removed by conventional street cleaning techniques, with the gum degrading into biodegradable products and inert material. Te compound used in this new


gum was invented by Terry Cosgrove, a chemistry professor and polymer expert from the University of Bristol. Professor Cosgrove: “Tis is like a dream come true for me, seeing academic research result in a real commercial product. Te advantage of our clean gum is that it has a great taste, it is


easy to remove and it has the potential to be environmentally degradable.” Te multi-billion dollar US gum market


accounts for over 300,000 tons of chewing gum sold each year. Unfortunately, this also equates to a residual 120,000 tons of chewing gum leftovers remaining in the environment. Te new gum, marketed as Rev7, is available in peppermint and spearmint flavours, and looks set to change the chewing gum industry significantly. Chris Tamillo, who launched Rev7 in


the US, said: “Tere is both an appetite for this new brand in the US and a willingness to provide consumers with a product that is better for the environment but does not sacrifice quality.”


• bristol.ac.uk


REVOLYMER Formed in 2005, Revolymer has its roots firmly in Bristol. The company, which has a major research facility in north Wales and employs 32 people, focuses on developing new polymers with enhanced physical properties manufactured from existing commodity polymers. These new materials are being used to create commercial opportunities in cosmetics, surface coatings and laundry products, and have the potential to change the way products, such as chewing gum, are used every day.


Why does it work? The gum most people chew is made from synthetic rubber and is hydrophobic (water repelling). These are cheap to produce, stay soft when chewed and have a long-lasting taste. However, the problems start once the chewer has had enough of that piece of gum. This new ‘clean’ gum is based on


an amphiphilic material that includes both hydrophobic and hydrophilic (water absorbing) properties. This means that, over time, the discarded gum absorbs and retains water, which reduces its stickiness.


Photos: Jonathan Player, iStock


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