By Tina Hilding
A catalyst developed by a Washington State University research team efficiently converts abundant, renewable ethanol into valuable molecules needed for production of plastics, fuels, and everyday products.
The advance could someday make it easier to use renewables rather than petrochemicals to make common products. Led by Regents Professor Yong Wang, the researchers, including from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), report on their work in the journal, Chem Catalysis.
“Right now industry works with petrochemicals, but at some point, it is necessary to transition to renewable sources, and I think this kind of work helps us to better understand and approach using those renewables,” said Vannessa Caballero, co-first author on the paper and a recent PhD graduate in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering.
Modern chemical manufacturing relies on carbon-emitting fossil fuels to produce numerous everyday products, such as plastics, nylon, and fuels. Ethanol, made through fermentation of a wide variety of crops, could be abundant and offers a potentially alternative feedstock for these needed high-value chemicals.
Source : wsu.edu