Revolutionizing how we enjoy hot beverages on the go

From a field of Ontario-grown soybeans to a product that will reduce cancer risk - the innovative new  Prolong Travel Mug™, proudly discovered, developed and designed at Trent University, is set to revolutionize your morning cup of coffee.

Developed by the  Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research (TCBR), the new Prolong Travel Mug delivers the dual benefits of rapidly cooling hot beverages to a safe 65°C in less than a minute, and maintaining that ideal temperature for taste, quality and health for hours.

Prolong Travel Mug benefits:

• Cools hot beverages to a safe 65°C within minutes
• Maintains the perfect temperature for taste, quality and health for hours
• Produced from Ontario Soybeans, the Phase Change Material is non-toxic and both sustainable and biodegradable
• Passive technology requires no cords or charging
• Invented at Trent University in Canada

“Recent studies have shown that drinking very hot beverages can cause cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization has classified beverages in excess of 65°C as probable carcinogens and, with most hot beverages served in excess of 80°C, that’s a risk you don’t want to take,” said  Dr. Suresh Narine, Industrial Research Chair in Lipid Derived Biomaterials, director of the TCBR, and co-inventor of the mug. “The Prolong Travel Mug is smartly designed with its Phase Change Material to ensure your favourite hot beverage is safe and comfortable to drink and travel with - for hours on end.”

At the heart of the Prolong Travel Mug is a unique, patented Phase Change Material (PCM), produced from Ontario soybeans and using green chemistry. The PCM goes to work as soon as you pour a hot beverage into the Prolong Travel Mug, rapidly absorbing excess heat from your beverage. As it does, it converts from a solid to liquid state, storing the excess heat. Later, as the beverage begins to cool, the process reverses, the PCM solidifies, and the stored heat is released back into the beverage, keeping it within the perfect drinking temperature range.

The Prolong story started when a group of intrepid researchers, faculty and students in the Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research saw an opportunity to change the way we enjoy hot beverages on the go. Always looking for sustainable ways to do things, the team used environmentally friendly soybean oil, then ingeniously invented the patented Phase Change Material technology, using Green Chemistry. Too-hot drinks may be a thing of the past, but this research team won’t rest until it finds new ways to put this discovery to work.

For more information, and to order your Prolong Travel Mug, visit  prolongmug.com.

This article was adapted with permission from  Trent University.

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