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GREEN CHEMISTRY THROUGH CATALYSIS, ALTERNATIVE SOLVENTS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
Citation:
SAHLE-DEMESSIE, E. GREEN CHEMISTRY THROUGH CATALYSIS, ALTERNATIVE SOLVENTS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY. Presented at EPA Science Forum, Washington, DC, May 16 - 18, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Researchers at the National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Sustainable Technology Division have been working on new scientific approaches to persistent technological problems: how to synthesize commercially important chemicals without depleting or damaging the environment. Currently, the chemical manufacturing industry produces more than billions tons of toxic releases. Roughly half of the releases and transfers of chemicals reported through EPA's Toxic Release Inventory are the result of chemical manufacturing. Many of these releases can be minimized by improving conventional industrial partners developing long-term solution based on the advancement of new and cleaner production processes. In this presentation, we will take various examples from out in-house research to illustrate the principles of green synthesis technologies including the use of alternative catalysis, reaction media and alternative energy sources. The new advanced oxidation technology that we developed uses a novel surface corona discharge ozone generator with a catalytic reactor for partial and deep oxidation of waste gas streams from Kraft pulp and paper mills. We will also present studies based on a patented new technology on the syntheses of organic compounds using nano-structured semi-conductor photocatalysis and other advanced oxidation technologies. We are using solvent-free alternatives to accelerate organic syntheses using microwaves, ultrasound and supported reagents. We will also discuss the results of scaling-up of microwave assisted synthesis of fine chemicals using continuous flow reactor. One of our major studies involves the activation of hydrogen peroxide using solid catalyst and use of carbon nanotubes for environmental applications and for metal supported catalysis.