Catalyst Shows Promise for Sustainable Acrylic Acid, Acrylates Production
Jan. 10, 2023
Discovery could lead to lower production costs through increased efficiencies.
By Chemical Processing Staff
A research team led by University of Minnesota researchers has developed a new catalyst that could significantly reduce the cost to produce renewable chemicals used in paints, coatings and superabsorbent polymers, according to Jan. 9 news release.
The catalyst converts renewable materials like trees and corn to acrylic acid and acrylates. The new catalyst technology is more efficient than previous materials, which should lead to lower manufacturing costs, according to the research team.
John Beumer, NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers, University of Minnesota
A team led by University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a catalyst converts renewable materials like trees and corn to acrylic acid and acrylates.
Acrylic acid and associated acrylates are traditionally made from fossil fuels. But in the last few decades, researchers have been looking to corn-derived chemicals as a sustainable lactic acid. Until this catalyst discovery, traditional catalysts were inefficient and expensive, according to the University of Minnesota research team.
“Our new catalyst formulation discovery achieves the highest yield to date of acrylic acid from lactic acid,” said Paul Dauenhauer, a professor in the university’s college of science and engineering. “We benchmarked the performance of our new catalyst to all prior catalysts, and the performance far exceeds previous examples.”
The research team plans to continue their basic research on catalyst design to understand the fundamental aspects of the chemistry with financial support from the Center for Sustainable Polymers.
The research team received support from the U.S. National Science Foundation through the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers.
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