Marimuthu Andiappan, a PhD student in the Linic lab, holds up a small sample of the copper catalyst. The copper nanoparticles can use light to get rid of the oxygen bound to their surfaces, making it possible for copper to catalyze a chemical industry "holy grail" reaction. Photo: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering Communications & Marketing.
ANN ARBOR-Wouldn't it be convenient if you could reverse the rusting of your car by shining a bright light on it? It turns out that this concept works for undoing oxidation on copper nanoparticles, and it could lead to an environmentally friendly production process for an important industrial chemical, University of Michigan engineers have discovered. "We report a new physical phenomenon that has potentially significant practical implications," said Suljo Linic, an associate professor of chemical engineering, who led Copper's newfound ability to shake off oxygen attached to its surface could allow it to act as a catalyst for a long-sought reaction, causing oxygen molecules to bind with propylene molecules in the way that forms propylene oxide. Propylene oxide is a precursor for making many plastics, toiletries and other household products such as antifreeze, paints and insulating foams. To meet demand for these products, the U.S. produces more than 2.4 million metric tons of propylene oxide per year, worth about $4.9 billion. Unfortunately, producing propylene oxide involves a complex chain of reactions that generate unwanted chemicals. The process that provides about half of the propylene oxide in the U.S. also produces about twice as many tons of salt. A catalyst that can coax propylene and oxygen to form propylene oxide in a direct reaction, avoiding the waste, has been called a "holy grail" of catalysis.
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