New Iron Catalyst Promises Green Future for Hydrogenation - Polidicks

[url]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130627083032.htm[/url] [IMG]http://images.sciencedaily.com/2013/06/130627083032.jpg?1372337792[/IMG] [QUOTE][B]A new iron nanoparticle catalyst developed by researchers in Japan and Canada promises to drastically improve the efficiency of hydrogenation, a key chemical process used in a wide array of industrial applications. Cleaner, safer and cheaper than traditional rare metal-based catalysts, the new, more environmentally friendly technique marks a breakthrough for the emerging field of green chemistry.[/B] Hydrogenation, the reaction of molecular hydrogen with another compound or element, is one of the world's most highly studied chemical reactions, with industrial applications ranging from petrochemistry, to food production, to pharmaceuticals. Most such applications of hydrogenation use rare metal catalysts such as palladium or platinum to speed up chemical reactions. While highly efficient, these metals are expensive and limited in supply, posing environmental and economic challenges. To get around these problems, researchers at McGill University, the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science and the Institute for Molecular Science developed their new technique using iron, a much less expensive and far more abundant element. Iron has been ruled out in the past due to the fact that it rusts in the presence of oxygen and water, negating its catalytic effect. The new technique, described in a paper published in the journal Green Chemistry, produces iron nanoparticles directly inside a polymer matrix, which protects the iron surface from rusting while allowing the reactants to reach it and react. The resulting system of polymer-stabilized iron nanoparticles in water is the first of its kind: a safe, cheap and environmentally friendly catalyst system for hydrogenation reactions.[/QUOTE]

So from what I read this new catalyst is going to replace the current catalysts which are considered rare earth materials? if so, that's awesome.

Woah, this is huge. So far, our current catalysts are mostly made of platinum, and we're not sure if we even have enough of it to use on a global scale.

[QUOTE=Glorbo;41211696]Woah, this is huge. So far, our current catalysts are mostly made of platinum, and we're not sure if we even have enough of it to use on a global scale.[/QUOTE] There's platinum in catalytic converters in nearly every gasoline powered car today. This is just for the hydrogenation procedure for oil, i don't think it will replace the platinum converters in car exhaust systems, because it's a different chemical process happening in the cars. Typically the CC in a car breaks down nitric oxide and unburned hydrocarbons into their base molecules, as these molecules don't damage the environment as much as they would if released into the air.

graphine and nano-particles, what can't we do with them?

cheaper trans fats, woo!

[QUOTE=Eltro102;41211809]cheaper trans fats, woo![/QUOTE] Silly, with improved hydrogenation we will have cheaper saturated fats!