University of Michigan business planning includes new discovery

Category: Business & Corporate Law

Scientists are passionate about their work and are tireless in their efforts in making new discoveries and inventions that could potentially benefit all of society. When a scientist makes an important discovery, he or she will probably want to make sure that all of the hard work does not go to waste. This is the case with an important new discovery made at the University of Michigan, which demonstrates that light can reverse oxidation of copper. The university is now looking to move forward with business planning in order to monetize this discovery.

The potential business opportunity came about when a chemical engineering associate professor discovered that shining a white light that is five times more intense than the sun on copper keeps the copper in a metallic state, while reversing oxidation on nanoparticles. The university researchers believe that this could help create an environmentally friendly process for producing propylene oxide. This chemical is required to make a variety of plastic, toiletries, antifreeze, paints and a variety of other household products.

What makes this newly discovered potential process important is that the chemical is being created by means of a direct reaction, which eliminates the waste resulting from the current methods used to produce the industrial chemical. Currently, producers of propylene oxide make nearly 2.5 million metric tons of the chemical in order to meet demand in the United States. This is approximately $4.9 billion worth of the industrial chemical.

In order to fully capitalize on this discovery the University of Michigan will have to conduct careful business planning to make sure all bases are covered. This will require an understanding of the rules and regulations connected with creating an industrial chemical which will eventually be utilized to create products that will reach the public marketplace. Conforming to these regulations will help to avoid future potential lawsuits.

Source: esciencenews.com, ” Light may recast copper as chemical industry ‘holy grail’ ,” March 31, 2013

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