Going beyond gold?

Experts from Cardiff University have proposed a much cheaper and more efficient way of producing a promising new catalyst that is used in reactions to produce a whole host of everyday materials, from electronics and cosmetics to sanitisation and pharmaceuticals. The team, from the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, have devised a new way of creating the catalyst graphitic oxide - a compound that is a pre-cursor to the 'wonder material' graphene - and shown how this can be effectively used in reactions to produce a widely used material called epoxide. Graphitic oxides are commonly prepared using the Hummers method; however leads to much better catalysis. Whereas the Hummers method leads to the accumulation of sulfur on the surface of the graphitic oxide catalyst, which effectively acts as a poison for reactions, the Hofmann method was much more efficient and could enable researchers to carefully tune the surface of the catalyst. Since its discovery in 2004, graphene and its related materials have been of interest to researchers all over the world due to their remarkable properties. This has also led to the exploration of graphene-related materials in the field of catalysis - the development of materials to speed up chemical reactions in order to make products cheaper, cleaner and more efficient. The latest research is part of a wider project building on the large success of research into gold catalysis by the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, and aims at replacing gold catalysts with cheaper and more sustainable alternatives.