Hong Kong Industrialist Aug Oct 2021

INNOVATIVE SCIENCE 應用科研創新 to improve products and technologies. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Yip’s Chemical injected new impetus to their business through biotechnology and launched EUCA, a home sanitising brand serving the mid-to-high-end consumer market. “It was the first time for us to collaborate with local university in Hong Kong. Leveraging the research strengths from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (“PolyU”), we have developed the world's first eco-friendly long-lasting antimicrobial coating, Nano En-core. Environmental protection work is not easy as the pandemic has led to a growing demand of sanitising products which most of them contain chemical disinfectants that are harmful to the environment. Instead, Nano En-core is composed of renewable and sustainable resources which are safe to humans while having a high disinfecting efficacy without any negative impact on the environment.” Nano En-core incorporates food-grade eco-friendly disinfectant Chitosan, thymes and a special film-forming agent to create a long-lasting antimicrobial coating, to protect surfaces from bacteria and viruses including COVID-19. The protection is proved to remain effective for up to 180 days. Francis described the collaboration with PolyU went smoothly – Yip’s Chemical and the research team were complementary to each other throughout the whole process from research to commercialisation. However, Francis also observed that not every academy's scientific research can be successfully put into production. “As a manufacturer, we look for scientific research outcomes in the universities or research centres from the perspective of market demand. It takes time and effort to explore various technologies and eventually, find the right way to transform research into new commercial products. In recent years, both the industry and institutions have been actively promoting on turning science into business. We need better communication platforms to maintain close contact with each other and to achieve synergy in effective industry-research collaboration.” The advancement of science, technology and innovation drives the industry to chart a new path and lead future development. Francis believes that biotechnology can be applied to a wide range of practices and complemented the traditional chemical industry by creating more sustainable material options that leave less traces on Earth. He also cited that the chemical industry shares the common vision to further ride on biotechnology to replace volatile substances in existing products with more natural ingredients, as well as to degrade chemical wastes generated in the manufacturing processes. “The chemical, biotechnology and other manufacturing sectors are closely linked together. I believe their alliance will effectively help address real-world environmental problems and achieve sustainable goals when we pursue industrial development.” 葉氏一直注重科研創新，其內地廠房一直與 大學和科研中心合作改良產品和技術。在去 年疫情席捲全球之際，集團為旗下品牌注入 新動力，借助生物科技技術，開創環保消毒 產品品牌EUCA，專攻有要求的中高端消費 者市場，開創出新的產品線。「我們首度與 本地大學合作，以理工大學的技術，首創環 保長效抗菌抗病毒塗層Nano En-core。疫 情期間，兼顧抗疫與環保並不容易，我們常 用的消毒產品、塗層，大部份都是化學劑成 分，Nano En-core採用的有效成分是大自 然廣泛分佈的可再生、可持續自然資源，具 備殺滅細菌和病毒功能，能夠充分平衡保護 環境與消毒抗疫的需求。」 Nano En-core塗膜結合了環保天然的食品 級材料甲殼素、百里香和特殊的成膜物質， 通過實驗認證具有長達180天的持續消毒功 效，有效對抗新型冠狀病毒、流感病毒、手 足口病毒及多種常見細菌。Francis 形容與 理工大學科研團隊一拍即合，由技術研發到 商品化，兩者合作互補，整個過程都十分順 利。但他亦直指並非每一個大學技術都能夠 成功投產，「作為廠商，我們會從市場需求 出發，到大學或研究機構物色對我們的產品 有幫助的技術，需要不斷探索和磨合才能成 事。近年來不論業界還是院校，都比以前更 積極推動科技成果轉化，但仍需要更有系 統、持續讓雙方交流接觸的平台，才能更有 效率地促成產學合作。」 科研創新不斷改寫產業面貌，Francis認為 生物科技應用的層面廣泛，可以與傳統化工 行業相輔相成，創造新的物料、生產技術， 讓製造業界有更具可持續性、低污染的原材 料選擇。他舉例指現時業界積極研究借助生 物科技的進步，將天然成份取代舊有的高揮 發性化學成份，或是採用生物可分解技術處 理製造過程中產生的排放物，助工業減排， 「化工、生物科技和其他工業具有非常大的 重叠空間，我相信三者的結合，能夠助我們 在追求現代工業發展的同時，減少對大自然 留下的影響，達到可持續發展的目標。」 8-10/2021 | 23