N EW S RESEARCH 6 DEVELOPMENT

CATALYSIS

Controlling reactions
with electric fields
AN electric field has been used effectively
as a catalyst in a chemical reaction, in a
breakthrough discovery.
Michelle Coote, a chemistry professor
at the Australian National University, said
it is a “totally new way of thinking about
chemistry”. The team used an electric
field to catalyse the Diels-Alder reaction
that produces a cyclohexene system. This
.eah-Anne Thompson / Shutterstock.com

reaction can be used to make chemicals,

including self-healing materials and drugs.
The team attached molecules of a
conjugated diene and a substituted diene
to a surface, all orientated in the same
direction, and used the electric field from
the probe of a scanning-tunnelling elec­
tron microscope. Changing the strength
and polarity of the field changed the reac­
tion rate. The reaction can be remotely and
RECYCLING precisely controlled by simply switching
off the current.
Coote explained to The Chemical
S u p e rcritica l s o lu tio n to p la stic Engineer that the electric field need not
be external, but could be associated with
p o llu t io n a charged functional group, modulated
with pH, with its placement relative to the
THE growing problem of plastic pollution in water is difficult to address but reaction centre precisely controlled, as
chemical engineers in the UK believe that catalytic supercritical water gasification happens in enzymes.
(SCWG) could provide an answer. High-performance, smaller-scale pro­
Plastics in water present a serious risk to marine life. In some areas, such as the Great duction could be achieved by growing
Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic waste builds up, trapped by currents, and its mixed nature polymers on a surface. Coote and her team
poses a problem for conventional recycling. Jude Onwudili from Aston University and are working on ways to tether alkoxyamines
Paul Williams from Leeds University, say that their process generates methane, hydrogen on an electrode surface and use an applied
and carbon dioxide from mixed plastic waste. electric field to trigger polymerisation.
Onwudili and Williams used a ruthenium (IV) oxide catalyst and tested the process on Some reactions may not require such
low -density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) precisely orientated molecules. Self-healing
and polystyrene (PS). Supercritical water, at a temperature and pressure at which there is in adhesives and coatings is generally
no clear gas or liquid phase, acts as both medium and reactant. triggered by heat, but Coote believes
The researchers placed 2 g o f plastic in a reactor w ith the catalyst and 20 ml of water. electric fields could be used instead.
The reactor was sealed, air excluded and the mixture heated to 450°C fo r one hour. Self-healing does not require all the
Pressures reached 1 0 -3 8 MPa. The gases produced were analysed using gas chromatog­ bonds to cleave at once, so only some
raphy. The catalyst was examined using x-ra y diffraction. facing the right way at any one time
The researchers calculated carbon gasification efficiencies - the percentage of car­ would be enough.
bon in the feedstock converted to gaseous products - at up to 99%, and hydrogen “We hope that this inspires peo­
gasification efficiencies up to 100%. The catalyst requires recalcination in air as it reduces ple to come up with other ideas also. I
to ruthenium metal in the reaction, but is effective in re-use. just think this is an untapped area of
The m ethane-rich gas produced in the reaction could be a useful source of fuel, say chemical catalysis that is waiting to be
Onwudili and Williams. explored,” Coote said.
Process S afety and E n viro n m en ta l Protection: doi.org/bdfx N ature: doi.org/bdfz

APRIL 2 0 1 6 | The C h e m i c a l Engineer | PAGE 23

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