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NYU Tandon Team Charts Path to Sustainable, Solar-Driven Chemical Manufacturing
https://engineering.nyu.edu/news/nyu-tandon-team-charts-path-sustainable-solar-driven-chemical-manufacturingNYU Tandon Team Charts Path to Sustainable, Solar-Driven Chemical Manufacturing
Posted: February 20, 2019
BROOKLYN, New York, Wednesday, February 20, 2019 –A team of researchers from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering is working to upend energy-intensive, fossil fuel-dependent chemical manufacturing processes and replace them with sustainable, solar-driven reactions that rely on renewable feedstocks. Led by Miguel Modestino, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, the team recently designed a novel reactor that uses solar energy and plant waste to sustainably produce adiponitrile, an precursor material used in Nylon production.
The team’s work is featured in the inaugural issue of Trends in Chemistry, a review journal published by Cell Press that aims to address major questions across all areas of chemistry. In a paper entitled “Organic Electrosynthesis for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing,” Modestino and NYU Tandon doctoral student Daniela Blanco review the challenges and opportunities facing the global chemical industry amid pressure to decrease carbon emissions. The technology is employed by the sustainable Nylon startup Sunthetics, launched in 2018 by a team that includes Blanco, Modestino and NYU Tandon 2018 valedictorian Myrian Sbeiti.
The chemical industry commands roughly one quarter of the world’s energy demand, mostly in the form of fossil fuel-generated heat needed to drive thermochemical reactions. As the availability of renewable energy soars, organic electrosynthesis — relying on electricity, not heat, to drive reactions — can now easily be generated via solar, wind, or other renewable means. Estimates show that up to a third of chemical products — as well as new products that result from yet-untapped chemical transformations — could be produced through electrosynthesis.
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“Electrochemical reactors can impact a wide range of chemical transformation, providing a direct path towards the electrification of the chemical industry and further boosting renewable energy deployment,” he said.
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https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trechm.2019.01.001
Posted: February 20, 2019
Image of a reactor for the electrochemical production of adiponitrile, developed by NYU Tandon researchers. The resulting paper is featured in the inaugural issue of the Cell Press journal Trends in Chemistry.
BROOKLYN, New York, Wednesday, February 20, 2019 –A team of researchers from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering is working to upend energy-intensive, fossil fuel-dependent chemical manufacturing processes and replace them with sustainable, solar-driven reactions that rely on renewable feedstocks. Led by Miguel Modestino, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, the team recently designed a novel reactor that uses solar energy and plant waste to sustainably produce adiponitrile, an precursor material used in Nylon production.
The team’s work is featured in the inaugural issue of Trends in Chemistry, a review journal published by Cell Press that aims to address major questions across all areas of chemistry. In a paper entitled “Organic Electrosynthesis for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing,” Modestino and NYU Tandon doctoral student Daniela Blanco review the challenges and opportunities facing the global chemical industry amid pressure to decrease carbon emissions. The technology is employed by the sustainable Nylon startup Sunthetics, launched in 2018 by a team that includes Blanco, Modestino and NYU Tandon 2018 valedictorian Myrian Sbeiti.
The chemical industry commands roughly one quarter of the world’s energy demand, mostly in the form of fossil fuel-generated heat needed to drive thermochemical reactions. As the availability of renewable energy soars, organic electrosynthesis — relying on electricity, not heat, to drive reactions — can now easily be generated via solar, wind, or other renewable means. Estimates show that up to a third of chemical products — as well as new products that result from yet-untapped chemical transformations — could be produced through electrosynthesis.
…
“Electrochemical reactors can impact a wide range of chemical transformation, providing a direct path towards the electrification of the chemical industry and further boosting renewable energy deployment,” he said.
…
