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Starbon® Technologies

 Researcher in the lab working with Starbons

Starbons® are a novel family of mesoporous materials derived from polysaccharides. By utilising the ability of starch to retain its organised structure during pyrolysis, researchers at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence have generated starch based carbonaceous material with surface functionalities tuneable between hydrophilic to hydrophobic. This novel technology produces a Starbon® continuum of materials from polysaccharides to activated carbon.

Starbon® Technologies Ltd was formed in 2012 as a spin-out originating from research conducted at the University of York. It is now a private company focusing on the Starbon® technology, which converts waste polysaccharide into high value mesoporous materials. Starbon® Ltd is based on the York Science Park.

The unique properties of Starbons® are:

  • Tuneable surface functionality
  • High mesoporosity and pore volumes (up to 2.0 cm3 / g)
  • High surface areas (up to 500 m2 / g)
  • Controllable electrical conductivity
  • Available in different forms from homogeneous micronized powders to beads to monoliths

Current applications are:

  • Catalysis and catalyst support
  • Gas trapping and water purification
  • Chromatograpy
  • Biomedical devices