Precious metals & their diverse potential
Detlef Gaiser and Dominik Sperzel of Heraeus give some examples of how precious metal catalysts facilitate new synthesis routes in many fields of chemistry
The challenges facing chemistry today are as diverse as the global challenges facing humanity . But what does solving problems like world nutrition , climate crisis or disease control have to do with chemistry ? The answer is that they all need new syntheses to find more effective or alternative solutions .
Innovative precious metal catalysts are often the key to these syntheses . They also help to replace fossil with renewable feedstocks and to form new active ingredient molecules in pharmaceuticals , agro and fine chemicals .
A high level of experience and expertise has gone into the laboratory development of new catalysts and their transfer to industrial production . Moreover , in addition to stable procurement of rare raw materials , the sustainable design of supply chains with the help of precious metal recycling is becoming more and more relevant .
Renewable resources
The adverse effects of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions are widely recognised by society , policymakers , academia and industry as a complex challenge for the coming decades . Fossil feedstocks , however , have been and continue to be the predominant feedstock for the chemical industry . Currently , around 9 % of the world ’ s crude oil flows into the chemical industry , forming the
100
80
� 60
40
20
HTC A
0.5 % Pt/HTC !% Pt/HTC A
A
basis for the manufacture of a wide range of products , such as plastics , pharmaceuticals and paints .
In view of climate change , the production of sustainable chemicals is becoming increasingly important . Heraeus has initiated a development programme for precious metalbased heterogeneous catalysts , targetting the conversion of various renewable feedstocks such as biomass , CO 2 or plastic waste into value-added , sustainable chemicals . These chemicals have a significantly lower CO 2 footprint and a better life cycle assessment than their fossilbased counterparts .
Heraeus often develops and optimises catalysts for such conversion processes together
3 % PVHTC A
■Monomers /% ■Oligomers /% Aqueoos /% ■Coke /%
5 % Pt / HTC 5 % Pt-1 % Nin--lTC 5 % Pt-1 % Ni / HTC A A B
Figure 1 - Results of lignin conversion using five different platinum catalysts under standard ( A ) & optimised ( B ) reaction conditions with partners or process owners . Further , the company demonstrates the cost-attractiveness of precious metal-based catalysts when applying recycling loop strategies that enable efficient use of scarce precious metals .
Lignin conversion
To date , lignin has been used primarily as an energy source in paper production . However , due to its unique structure and chemical properties , lignin is well suited to producing a wide range of the chemicals used in our everyday life and serves as one of the most important aromatic resources for a biobased chemical industry .
One challenge so far has been to split the macromolecules of lignin
18 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981