CHEMICALS, MATERIALS AND GREENTECH

The Chemicals, Materials and GreenTech Cluster

Oversees the Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE²) and Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (IMRE);
Manages the Urban and GreenTech Programme (UGTO) in A*STAR; and
Scopes and coordinates programmes in the areas of chemicals, materials and greentech

Specialty Chemicals

Specialty Chemicals are chemicals differentiated by performance specifications and sold in low volumes. The sector can be further split into market-directed and functional segments. Globally, the Specialty Chemicals sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.42%, reaching a market size of US$612 billion by 2025. Within this sector, Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest and fastest growing market, generating a CAGR of 6.35% and commanding 45% of the global market share by 2025. This is largely driven by the megatrends in Asia Pacific such as a growing population and rising middle class, and increasing urbanisation.

The prioritised Technology Focused Areas under the Programme are:

Chemical Synthesis of Molecular Switches;
Design & Synthesis of Polymer Structure;
Target Release & Delivery;
Intelligent Formulations;
Performance Modelling; and
Characterisation and Analysis

Major Programmes in the Areas of Materials

Accelerated Materials Development for Manufacturing

The Accelerated Materials Development for Manufacturing (AMDM) programme aims to speed up the pace of materials innovation by utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence with high performance computing and robotics/automation.The programme closes the materials innovation loop through linking the three pillars of discoveries: 1) Synthesis; 2) Process optimization and 3) Rapid characterisation and diagnosis. The programme is uniquely positioned to leveraged upon Singapore's infrastructure and expertise in high performance computing, autonomous research and machine learning.

The AMDM programme is currently focusing on five different fields of materials science:

Flow synthesis;
Formulation and wet chemistry;
Thermal and thermoelectrics;
Integrated circuit defect detection; and
Soft magnetic materials and high entropy alloys.

Polymer Matrix Composites Programme (PMCP)

The PMCP strives to bring together and coordinate continuous carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) related expertise across Singapore’s research ecosystem to cooperatively engage industry collaborators and partners. The aims of the programme are twofold: to build up our R&D capability in CFRPs, particularly thermoplastic CFRPs; and to nucleate and grow composite manufacturing activities in Singapore and the region, becoming a regional centre for research supporting the application of composites in ASEAN and global markets in the future.

Structural Metals And Alloys Programme (SMAP)

The SMAP has the key objective of developing a world class advanced metallurgy research capacity that covers the entire spectrum of structural alloy engineering within the scientific landscape of Singapore. The programme covers topics ranging from solidification processing of new alloys to secondary processing of them; conducting detailed studies of the effect of microstructure on mechanical as well as corrosion properties; surface engineering; and using such knowledge to design alloys that offer even higher performance not only in terms of strength and toughness, but also in terms of reduced densities and increased fatigue reliability.