• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Monday, August 25, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS

A Simpler Path To a Catalyst

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
November 6, 2012
in NEWS
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

It started with an idea of Ive Hermans, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering: The chemist and his co-workers were looking for a new synthesis procedure for an important catalyst for the chemical industry. To date, the synthesis of the catalyst occurs in a very complex and error-prone procedure. The ETH researchers discovered a far more convenient two-step procedure, which is more suitable for large-scale production.

The catalyst in question is a zeolite, a powdery, porous, particulate material. Like all catalysts also this substance can accelerate a certain reaction and/or steer it towards a desired product. Hermans and his co-workers wanted to develop a catalyst that facilitates oxidation reactions and can thus be used for the preparation of so-called lactones from ketones.

 

«The new method is surprisingly easy»

 

The use of a catalyst for such reactions has many advantages. “The preparation of lactones, for instance, is time-intensive and expensive, as acids are formed as side-products“, says Hermans. By using a tin containing zeolite as a catalyst instead, it becomes possible to use hydrogen peroxide as an oxidation reagent so that water is the only side-product. This method has not been implemented industrially so far, due to the time-consuming synthesis procedure of the special zeolites: the process requires 40 days. In addition, the procedure is difficult to control and can easily fail.

The idea of the ETH researchers: Instead of synthesizing the zeolite in a procedure which takes a great deal of time, out of silicon, aluminum and tin, they used a commercially available zeolite made of silicon and aluminum. Within two steps this material was modified to the desired catalyst. “At first, we removed the aluminum atoms from the raw material in a known procedure without changing the crystalline structure of the zeolite“, says PhD student Sabrina Conrad. “Then we replaced the vacant sites inside the zeolite framework with tin atoms by mixing the pretreated zeolite with a tin compound for 15 minutes.” Experiments have shown that the newly prepared zeolite contains more tin than conventionally prepared catalysts. Due to that, the catalyst is significantly more efficient.

Environmentally friendly preparation procedure

In cooperation with an industrial partner, the ETH researchers want to optimize the preparation procedure for large-scale applications. In the future, the catalyst could be used for the industrial synthesis of starting materials required for important plastics. One example would be the preparation of polylactic acid from renewable resources. Polylactic acid is being used in plastic packing materials or foil. “The demand for plastics made from renewable resources will strongly increase as soon as crude oil – the basis of many plastics – will become more rare and expensive”, explains Hermans. “With our catalyst, it is possible to produce such products on a large scale in a much more environmentally friendly way. “

Literature reference

Hammond C, Conrad S, Hermans I: Simple and Scalable Preparation of Highly Active Lewis Acidic Sn-beta. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2012, 51: 1-5. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201206193

By Fabio Bergamin

Contact: ETH Zurich Editorial Office, Fax: +41 44 632 17 16, E-mail: [email protected]

Source: ETH Zürich

 

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Revolutionary Cyclic Thioether Additive Boosts Lithium Metal Batteries to 3,000 Stable Cycles!

August 25, 2025

Breakthroughs in Screening Techniques and Point-of-Care Diagnostics Transform Colorectal Cancer Detection

August 25, 2025

Introducing the Second Beijing Consensus on Holistic Integrative Medicine for Managing Helicobacter pylori-Associated Disease-Syndrome

August 25, 2025

Innovative Technique Unveiled for Probing Atomic Internal Structures

August 25, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    143 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    142 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    115 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Revolutionary Cyclic Thioether Additive Boosts Lithium Metal Batteries to 3,000 Stable Cycles!

Breakthroughs in Screening Techniques and Point-of-Care Diagnostics Transform Colorectal Cancer Detection

Introducing the Second Beijing Consensus on Holistic Integrative Medicine for Managing Helicobacter pylori-Associated Disease-Syndrome

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.