If you’re involved in toll processing for the chemicals industry, you’ll know just how much of an energy-intensive process it can be.
With all manner of industries looking for ways to become more environmentally friendly, is it time for chemical manufacturing to follow suit?
One group of researchers believe so, and they think they’ve found a way to help chemical manufacturers green their operations. EurekAlert! reported on the efforts by a team at RMIT University in Australia, who have found a way to harness sunlight to power chemical reactions.
Using a specially developed nano-enhanced material the team have found a way to capture 99 per cent of light and convert it to drive chemical reactions.
Speaking to the news provider, Associate Professor Daniel Gomez, lead investigator, explained that they needed to find a new material that could utilise natural light for the process because “many of the materials that are best for sparking chemical reactions are not responsive enough to light”.
However, with their new photocatalyst he is hoping things can change. “It’s scalable and efficient technology that opens new opportunities for the use of solar power – moving from electricity generation to directly converting solar energy into valuable chemicals,” he stated.
Professor Gomez added that the ultimate aim of the project is to help with “transforming this vital industry into one that’s renewable and sustainable”.
Given that our natural resources are being depleted at a fast rate, it’s important to look for other ways of creating the chemicals and products that we rely on in so much of our lives. Last month, research from the European Chemical Society identified “endangered” elements and stressed that we need to do more to reuse items like mobile phones to prevent some of them running out.