Green Chemistry breakthrough named one of top discoveries of 2010
A new nanotech catalyst that offers industry an environmentally
benign way to reduce toxic heavy metals from the chemical process
through simple magnetic nanoparticles has earned 捆绑SM社区
researchers Chao-Jun Li, Audrey Moores and their colleagues a spot
on Quebec Science鈥檚 list of the Top 10 discoveries of 2010.
The magazine, which published the list in its February issue,
invites readers to vote by February 25 for the top discovery of
2010 at .
Catalysts are substances used to facilitate and drive chemical
reactions. Although chemists have long been aware of the ecological
and economic effects of traditional chemical catalysts and do
attempt to reuse their materials, it is generally difficult to
separate the catalyzing chemicals from the finished product. The
team鈥檚 discovery does away with this chemical process
altogether.
Li, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Canada Research
Chair in Organic/Green Chemistry, neatly describes the new catalyst
as a way to 鈥渦se a magnet and pull them out!鈥 The technology is
known as nanomagnetics and involves nanoparticles of a simple iron
magnet. Nanoparticles are sized between 1 and 100 nanometres (a
strand of hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide). The catalyst
itself is chemically benign and can be efficiently recycled. In
terms of practical applications, their method can already be used
to generate the reactions that are required for example in
pharmaceutical research, and could in the future be used to achieve
reactions necessary for research in other industries and fields.
The discovery was published in Highlights in Chemical Science in
January 18, 2010, in an article authored by Li, Moores, Tieqiang
Zeng, Wen-Wen Chen, Ciprian M. Cirtiu, and Gonghua Song.
Li is known as one of the world鈥檚 pioneers in Green Chemistry, an
entirely new approach to the science that tries to avoid the use of
toxic, petrochemical-based solvents in favour of basic substances.
More than 97 per cent of all products we use involves one or more
chemical reactions. The future of not only the trillion-dollar
chemical industry, but also the overall economy and the health of
ecosystems and populations around the world rests on our ability to
find sustainable solutions to chemical use. With 25 key
researchers, 117 graduate students and more than 15 postdoctoral
fellows working at ways to reduce the toxicity of chemical
processes, 捆绑SM社区 is a recognized global leader in the field. The
University鈥檚 pioneering work in Green Chemistry dates back to the
1960s, when phrases such as 鈥渃hemicals from renewable resources鈥
and 鈥渘on-polluting chemicals鈥 were used.
Indeed, Green Chemistry was a research priority at 捆绑SM社区 even
before the concept had an academic identity.