Page 5 - CEMS News Winter 2021

CEMS NEWS
U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary visits CEMS
Groundbreaking research developed in Paul Dauenhauer’s lab, commercialized as the startup company Sironix Renewables, draws attention and prompts personal visit.
U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar visited Amundson Hall in September to see groundbreaking Department of Energy-funded research.
Professor Paul Dauenhauer’s research team discovered a new detergent molecule that has advanced capability for developing eco-friendly cleaning applications such as laundry, dishwashing, or personal care products. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), this technology was commercialized as the startup company Sironix Renewables in 2016 by University of Minnesota alumnus Christoph Krumm (PhD ChE ’16) and Professor Dauenhauer.
Produced from renewable, agricultural materials with a structure that is highly active and stable in both cold and hard water, these “tunable,” precise molecular structures are useful for a wide range of applications and allow
for the use of simpler product formulations with fewer ingredients.
Researchers say that Sironix Renewable’s new Eosix® detergent works 500 times better in hard water than other detergents. This bio-based, environmentally benign detergent performs better than other detergents because of its remarkable ability to serve as both an active cleaning ingredient and a hard water softener.
Sironix Renewables is located in Seattle but has continuing research ties with Professor Dauenhauer and other leading chemical engineering and green chemistry researchers at the University of Minnesota. The company, one of 170 startups spun out from the University of Minnesota since 2006, is considering Minnesota as a potential manufacturing site given its proximity to bio-feedstocks.
Initially discovered as part of the U.S. Department
of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Program, the technology has been further supported in development through both the Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office RAPID Program and the Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Recent private investment in
Paul Dabbar, U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science, (pictured, from left) Christoph Krumm, CEO & Co-Founder of Sironix Renewables, and Professor Paul Dauenhauer during a department visit in September.
Sironix Renewables combined with grants has led to a total of $6.3 million in funding.
Content from University of Minnesota media alert, written by Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, and Dan Gilchrist, Office of the Vice President for Research.
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