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The Use of Small Particle Catalysts in Pursuit of Green and Sustainable Chemistry
Citation:
Glaser, John A. The Use of Small Particle Catalysts in Pursuit of Green and Sustainable Chemistry. Chapter 9, Ahindra Nag (ed.), Greener Synthesis of Organic Compounds, Drugs and Natural Products. CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, Boca Raton, FL, , 151-176, (2022).
Impact/Purpose:
The dimensions of the catalytic nanoworld are being aggressively explored. New catalytic activities and chemistries have exposed the extent of catalytic chemistry still to be explores. This chapter strives to identify applications of nanoparticle catalysis that reveal new and very useful chemical conversions which are possible contributions to better or more complete understanding and practiice of catalytic sustainability. The spectrum of applications incorporated in the chapter are a small measure of where this use of the nanoworld can be employed in environmentally benign technology as applied to the chemical conversion of polymer/plastic waste materials to new products for reuse.
Description:
Catalytic reactions continue to serve society in a multitude of ways in today’s economy. Applications from catalytic exhaust converters to the catalytic surfaces employed for the detection of air-borne combustion products in home smoke detectors identify the importance of catalysis to current day society. From the perspective of kinetics, catalytic reactions have lured researchers to investigate the almost magical ways in which a desired transformation occurs at zero order kinetics. The necessary chemical modification of raw materials such as petroleum occurs through the intermediacy of catalytic reactions. These reactions enable the modification of petroleum to form desirable products with economic efficiency which are unavailable from alternative chemical reactions. Society demands commercial materials having cleaner and purer features leading to a cleaner environment. New chemical processes enabling a response to these desires and demands are based on the use of catalysis which offer energy efficient and cleaner means to produce the commercial items required by society with less waste generation. Catalysts enable the formation of a desired product by providing a less energy demanding transition state through which the reactant must proceed to form product. Recent research suggests that nanoscience has opened opportunities in the use of nanocatalysts to conduct chemical synthesis in a potentially greener environment.
