{"id":214422,"date":"2026-01-01T06:25:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/214422\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T06:25:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:25:24","slug":"u-startup-tackles-e-waste-with-degradable-materials-theu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/214422\/","title":{"rendered":"U startup tackles e-waste with degradable materials \u2013 @theU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reposted from the Technology Licensing Office.<\/a><\/p>\n

When consumers discard electronic devices, they often end up in U.S. landfills or are exported overseas for processing. EnduraCure, a University of Utah startup, is addressing this sustainability challenge by developing high-performance polymer substrates that can be chemically degraded. The goal is to use these materials in electronics so they can be more easily processed to recover valuable metals contained in their circuitry.<\/p>\n

According to the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>, electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing environmental problems in the world, posing significant risks both to workers who handle these materials and to the environments where they\u2019re disposed.<\/p>\n

Yet these materials contain precious metals found in circuits that have inherent value for reuse, but current disposal processes often leave them in landfills. Toxic materials, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, can leach into the environment and expose disposal workers to high levels of contaminants. In response, the National Science Foundation and related organizations have encouraged researchers to develop reusable and reclaimable materials.<\/p>\n

Lightening the load on landfills<\/p>\n

EnduraCure is answering that call. Their technology uses a photocured polymerization process to create flexible substrates that match the durability of conventional materials during use but can be broken down in a mild chemical bath at end-of-life\u2014recovering valuable components in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about making these products degradable by design,\u201d said EnduraCure CEO Dennis Pruzan, a former U engineering graduate student. \u201cWe\u2019re pushing towards a circular economy and reducing loads on landfills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s initial focus is on flexible electronic substrates and encapsulants\u2014materials used in medical sensors, smart packaging, and wearable devices. These applications demand both performance and flexibility, making them ideal candidates for EnduraCure\u2019s sustainable alternative to conventional nonrecyclable materials.<\/p>\n

The company originated in the\u00a0 Wang Research Group<\/a> in the Price College of Engineering, where sustainable polymers are the central research focus under the leadership of Chen Wang<\/a>, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. Pruzan completed his Ph.D. in materials science in 2018, then spent several years in industry working on carbon fiber products at DPS Skis. Wang recruited him back to his lab as a research associate, and when EnduraCure needed dedicated leadership, Pruzan\u2019s combination of academic training and industry experience made him a natural fit to take the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I admire most about the way Chen operates his lab is that it\u2019s with an eye on translational research,\u201d Pruzan explained. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to do research for the sake of doing research. We want to do research that has economic value.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent months, Pruzan and his team have shifted their work from the lab into a separate business and commercialization space, seeking both funding and collaborators as they establish themselves in this new environment.\u00a0 The company recently received the National Science Foundation\u2019s Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award, funding continued research and commercialization efforts.<\/p>\n

A university-supported funding pipeline<\/p>\n

To bridge the funding gap between academic research and commercialization, EnduraCure secured an Ascender Grant from the Technology Licensing Office\u2014stopgap funding that proved critical while the team pursued the STTR.<\/p>\n

Pruzan also participated in the\u00a0NSF I-Corps program<\/a>\u00a0through the U, an intensive customer discovery process that reshaped how the team thought about their market. The team\u2019s successful pursuit of the NSF STTR Phase 1 Award provides funding to establish themselves as a company and move beyond the university research environment\u2014an important milestone in their translational research journey.<\/p>\n

In coming months, the EnduraCure team plans to seek out a manufacturing partner\u2014ideally an electronics company with whom they can demonstrate environmentally sustainable and cost-effective ways to degrade used devices and recover valuable materials at scale. Success would position the company for Phase 2 NSF funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of my job right now is making connections and getting to know people in the landscape of entrepreneurship and small businesses,\u201d Pruzan said. \u201cIt\u2019s very clear that Utah has a wealth of resources to make those connections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get involved<\/p>\n

For U of U researchers:\u00a0Interested in exploring commercialization for your own work? The\u00a0Ascender Grant<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0I-Corps program<\/a>\u00a0help bridge the gap between lab discoveries and market applications.
\nFor industry partners:\u00a0EnduraCure is actively seeking manufacturing partners in flexible electronics, medical devices, and consumer electronics. Contact the\u00a0Technology Licensing Office<\/a>\u00a0to learn more.<\/p>\n

Related news: New substrate for flexible electronics could help combat e-waste<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reposted from the Technology Licensing Office. When consumers discard electronic devices, they often end up in U.S. landfills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,85,46,9533,9531,119138,9532],"class_list":["post-214422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-the-u","tag-the-university-of-utah","tag-u-startup-tackles-e-waste-with-degradable-materials-theu","tag-uofu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}