Impact of research on coloured glass on the social enterprise Ten Green Bottles
Submitting Institution
Aberystwyth UniversityUnit of Assessment
PhysicsSummary Impact Type
SocietalResearch Subject Area(s)
Physical Sciences: Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, Other Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences: Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Summary of the impact
This case study describes the impact of physics research, carried out in
the Department of
Mathematics and Physics (DMAP), on the small business and social
enterprise Ten Green Bottles
through the development of specific commercial applications, transfers of
technology, and the
development of new products. Fundamental research on the atomistic origin
of the structural and
optical properties of recycled and synthetic coloured glass has provided
an opportunity for Ten
Green Bottles to gain an economic advantage. The collaboration between
DMAP and Ten Green
Bottles benefits the enterprise's workforce, whose educational ambitions
have been extended
through the interaction with DMAP research, and also benefits the local
community, whose
understanding of physics research has been enhanced through their
interaction with Ten Green
Bottles.
Underpinning research
As part of the materials research programme into glass and glass-forming
liquids at Aberystwyth,
started by Greaves [3.1] in 1996, a programme of study has been developed
focussing on coloured
glass. The broader research programme into glass, glass-forming liquids
and amorphous materials
at Aberystwyth University involves the use of neutron and high energy
X-ray diffraction. The
structures of liquids and glasses change under extremes of temperature and
pressure and new
techniques (high flux, high energy X-rays and aerodynamic levitation [3.2,
3.3]) have been
developed to allow a connection to be made between transient metastable
structures and
structure-dependent properties such as viscosity. This connection also
allows the local
environment around colour centres to be established.
Although coloured glasses have been available for centuries, a detailed
understanding of the
physics of colour is a more recent development. The colour reflects the
local environment around
transition metal ions (crystal-field effects) or nanophase gold or silver
particles. Coloured glasses
are beneficial in many applications because they are cheap, they contain
no organic material, the
colour centres are dispersed throughout the glass host and the glass hosts
themselves are
sufficiently robust to be able to withstand climatic and radiative
extremes [3.4]. Coloured glasses
are therefore of interest in a variety of applications, including their
potential to be used as
calibration targets for the ExoMars 2016 and 2018 missions; this is the
subject of an on-going
interdisciplinary research programme between DMAP and the Department of
Computer Science at
Aberystwyth University [3.5].
The optical properties of these glasses that provide strong colour can be
measured and modelled
using spectroscopic techniques and X-ray absorption measurements and this
is one focus of a
Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship (KESS) established between DMAP and
the social
enterprise Ten Green Bottles (TGB) in 2011, in which TGB sponsor a current
PhD student.
References to the research
[3.1] Greaves, G.N. et al. Composition and polyamorphism in supercooled
yttria-alumina melts,
Journal of Non-crystalline solids 35, 435-441, 2011.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2010.06.072
[3.2] Weber, J.K.R., Benmore, C.J., Jennings, G., Wilding, M.C., Parise,
J.B. Instrumentation for
fast in-situ X-ray structure measurements on non-equilibrium liquids.
Nuclear Instruments and
Methods in Physics Research, A 624, 728-730, 2010.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.125
[3.3] Greaves, G.N. et al., Detection of First-Order Liquid/Liquid Phase
Transitions in Yttrium
Oxide-Aluminum Oxide Melts. Science 322, 566-570, 2008.
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160766. REF2 submitted.
[3.4] Wilding, M.C. et al., Changes in the local environment surrounding
magnesium ions in fragile
MgO-SiO2 liquids, Europhysics Letters 89, 26005, 2010.
DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/89/26005.
[3.5] ExoMars 2018 PanCam Instrument and Calibration Target and Mars
Science Target
Identification (2003-2013), PPARC/STFC/ UK Space Agency funded. Total
£3.3M.
Details of the impact
Research on coloured glass forms the basis of impact on the social
enterprise Ten Green Bottles
(TGB) [5.7], a company based in New Radnor (Powys), that uses recycled
glass to make a variety
of products including jewellery, tableware and stained glass artefacts,
thus providing innovative
and interesting uses for recycled glass. As part of its mission to secure
a more sustainable future
by reducing the amount of waste glass, TGB also aims to provide employment
opportunities for
individuals that would normally be excluded from the workplace, for
example those with learning
difficulties and mental health issues.
The collaboration between DMAP and TGB includes a jointly-funded KESS PhD
project that
contributes to the use of coloured glass in TGB's products, such as the
development of a solar
water heater made from recycled glass. The connection between the
fundamental research on
colour centres and the optical properties of the recycled glass (and
simple analogues) allows the
effectiveness of the heat transfer of solar radiation to be optimised.
Here a fundamental and
practical understanding of the optical and thermal properties of the
recycled glass is required; this
is coupled with advanced thermal and fluid-flow modelling, a level of
expertise and insight that has
not been previously available to this small company. Thus the KESS
partnership acts as an
enabler for impact as it enhances the level of communication between DMAP
researchers and
TGB.
Ten Green Bottles is able to benefit directly from access to DMAP
research into glasses and
liquids, which has enabled new processes and products to be developed. As
the CEO of Ten
Green Bottles acknowledges in a letter to one of the key DMAP researchers,
it is because of the
SME's `interaction with [DMAP that they have] been able to
benefit from direct access to physics
research' which has `provided an opportunity [...] to enhance
[TGB's] current business and also the
potential to develop new products, specifically the development, design
and manufacturing of solar
water heaters, made from recycled glass' [5.1] Thus the DMAP
research makes a major
contribution to the `tangible, economic advantage' [5.1]
acknowledged by Ten Green Bottles.
As a social enterprise, Ten Green Bottles has a direct and positive
impact on the community in
south Powys and its regeneration. In its capacity as one of the UK's
Community Interest
Companies (CIC), TGB offers workshops that allow participants to make
their own piece of
recycled glass, thus gaining an understanding of the process and
benefiting from the SME's
knowledge [5.2]. Ten Green Bottles CIC is also a recognised training
centre that offers community
members the opportunity to gain qualifications and to develop work skills,
which creates benefits
for socially challenged individuals as well as the long-term unemployed.
TGB's website states that
`previous trainees have been very successful with a high percentage
acquiring long term
employment after their time here.' [5.3]. It is therefore vital for
Ten Green Bottles to continually gain
further insight `into the atomic scale structure of their aesthetically
pleasing materials' [5.1]. The
CEO of Ten Green Bottles also states that `The research and development
into coloured glasses
not only provides [the] social enterprise with a strong
commercial foundation but in a wider sense
will provide [the SME] with the knowledge and insight into the
use of recycled materials such that
[Ten Green Bottles] can contribute and inform the sustainability and
environmental debate' [5.1].
Including socially challenged individuals as well as student volunteers,
the diversity of Ten Green
Bottles' workforce underscores the SME's CIC mission which is promoted
through a number of
events including presentations and visits to other countries. This is
exemplified in the SME's recent
visit to the Czech Republic, which proved beneficial to one of the student
volunteers. As part of its
mission Ten Green Bottles is `pleased to offer a forum for students to
understand business with
social values and enterprise that is sustainable.' [5.1]. It is
through its ties with academic
researchers, strengthened by the KESS studentship that contributes to the
knowledge transfer
between DMAP and Ten Green Bottles, that the SME can be `recognised as
having research
innovation and design at the heart of [their] business'
[5.1]. Considering Ten Green Bottles' efforts
to support those who work for the SME, a major success of the knowledge
transfer between DMAP
and Ten Green Bottles is that it `introduced [Ten Green Bottles'] workforce
and volunteers to
academia and extended their ambitions to higher education.' [5.1]
Sources to corroborate the impact
[5.1] Letter from the CEO of Ten Green Bottles.
[5.2] http://www.greenglassmountain.com/services/tours-and-workshops.html
[5.3] http://www.greenglassmountain.com/services/training.html