Tailoring Carbohydrate‑Derived Polymers for High‑Performance, Microplastic‑Free Agricultural Coatings

Tackling the microplastic challenge with chemistry that makes a difference.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Sustainable Chemical Technologies: A Systems Approach (CSCT) at the University of Bath invites applications for a fully-funded four‑year PhD studentship beginning in September 2026. In collaboration with Croda, a global market leader in sustainable speciality chemicals, this project offers the chance to develop innovative materials with genuine industrial relevance and global environmental impact. As part of the CSCT, the successful applicant will join a multidisciplinary cohort of researchers pursuing creative chemical solutions to sustainability challenges, beginning with a one‑year MRes that blends taught content with two research projects across different scientific disciplines.

Modern agriculture increasingly relies on seed coating technologies to improve crop establishment, protect early-stage growth and support resilience. However, most commercial seed coatings depend on petrochemical‑based styrene–acrylic emulsions that are non‑biodegradable and now fall within emerging microplastics legislation. Replacing these with materials that are both high-performing and environmentally responsible is recognised as a major challenge for the sector. This PhD aims to address that challenge directly by developing biobased, biodegradable polymer binders capable of matching the performance of the current petrochemical systems.

The project builds on recent advances within the research group, including new approaches to biopolymer functionalisation, specifically of carbohydrate-derived functional materials and novel routes for creating degradable polymer architectures. These developments open exciting opportunities for designing materials from renewable feedstocks such as seaweed-derived polysaccharides, tailoring their chemistry to achieve the mechanical strength, adhesion, water compatibility and degradation characteristics required by seed coating applications.

Working across Bath, Croda’s Sustainable Polymer R&D team in Yorkshire, and Incotec’s Seed Enhancement laboratories in the Netherlands, the researcher will explore the full lifecycle of materials development, from molecular design and synthesis to real‑world performance testing. This project includes synthesising new polymer systems, characterising their mechanical and physicochemical properties, and assessing their behaviour in coating applications on a range of agriculturally important seeds such as wheat, corn, cotton and soybean. An important aspect of the work will involve understanding how these materials interact with seeds during hydration and germination, and how formulation choices influence early plant development.

Alongside the experimental work, the project will incorporate life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance of the materials developed, ensuring that the proposed solutions genuinely reduce environmental burden rather than shift it elsewhere in the supply chain.

This is an intellectually rich and highly interdisciplinary project. It sits at the intersection of polymer chemistry, materials science, biomaterials and agricultural technology, providing an exceptional training environment for a researcher who wishes to see their work translated into industrial practice. The collaboration with Croda and Incotec will enable the student not only to develop new materials but see them tested in real settings, gaining first‑hand experience of how industrial R&D operates and how sustainability-driven innovation progresses from concept to application. The project therefore offers an outstanding platform for building expertise in both fundamental polymer chemistry and applied, industry-facing materials development.

For further information or an informal discussion about the role, please contact:

Dr Hannah Leese [hsl25@bath.ac.uk] or Dr Maciek Kopeć [mk2297@bath.ac.uk]

Key words:

Biotechnology
Macromolecular chemistry
Synthetic chemistry
Materials science/engineering
Manufacturing
Polymer chemistry

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

We value a diverse research environment and aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated and respected. We welcome and encourage applications from under-represented groups.

If you have circumstances that you feel we should be aware of that have affected your educational attainment, then please feel free to tell us about it in your application form. The best way to do this is a short paragraph at the end of your personal statement.

References

1. https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/publications/commission-regulation-eu-amending-reach-regulation-regards-synthetic-polymer-microparticles_en
2. https://www.croda.com/en-gb 
3. https://www.incotec.com/en-gb
4. ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2024 6 (17), 10669-10677 DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.4c01816