Nottingham-based Promethean Particles, a manufacturer of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), has appointed Paul Capell as its new Board chair.
Paul, an accomplished CEO, non-executive director and strategic advisor, brings with him vast experience of launching and scaling up businesses across a range of industries, including oil and gas, water, renewables, and construction.
His appointment follows the successful completion of Promethean Particles’ £8 million Series A financing round last year, which saw it attract investment led by Mercia Ventures and Aramco Ventures.
The investment is now being used to help fund Promethean Particles’ pioneering work into the large-scale manufacture of MOFs, which are tiny crystal structures with extremely large internal surface areas.
James Stephenson, chief executive officer of Promethean Particles, said: “I am delighted to announce Paul’s appointment. He brings a wealth of experience at a key time for Promethean Particles as we work to scale up the production of MOFs and seek new commercial partners.
“His enthusiasm, knowledge, and connections in the application spaces we’re targeting for our MOFs are huge assets and we are delighted that he has chosen to join us at the start of a critically important chapter in our history.”
MOFs can be used for a variety of purposes, including storing gas and liquids, dehumidification and water harvesting, and trapping the carbon dioxide (CO2) created by the burning of industrial fuels – properties which mean they have increasingly been identified as a promising advanced material to help in the fight against climate change.
Traditional methods of manufacturing MOFs have presented challenges that have limited their growth in industrial applications.
However, Promethean Particles has developed proprietary continuous-flow reactors that it says not only improve throughput and cost of MOF production, but also maintain their key performance properties whilst increasing process reliability and consistency.
The company is now collaborating with a growing number of commercial partners to demonstrate the performance of MOFs in real-world applications.
Paul’s appointment will help accelerate this work, thanks to his experience of having previously worked with international businesses and a number of private equity funds and family offices.
He currently serves as a non-executive chairman for Evolution Aqua Group Ltd, Johnsons Aggregates and Recycling Ltd., and Myriad CEG Group Ltd.
He also holds an advisory role with A1 Water & Power Group (Abu Dhabi) and was previously a main board director at United Utilities Plc. He also held senior executive roles at Weir Group PLC and Veolia Water.
He said: “I feel very honoured to be joining Promethean Particles at such a vital time in its development.
“It has already shown outstanding levels of innovation, excellence and commitment to overcoming the hurdles that stand in the way of us being able to harness these incredible materials to help tackle climate change.
“The work that is taking place here is cutting-edge and it will be extremely exciting to be a part of Promethean Particles’ ambitions to ensuring MOFs fulfil the potential that they have been showing for many years now.”
