From Toxin to Commodity with Low Energy Hydrogenation (VIDEO)
Caption
UJ researchers take a novel step to change hydrogenation into a safe, low energy process. They use a very stable three phase emulsion to transform a toxic waste product into valuable feedstock. The process does not need flammable, compressed hydrogen gas. It turns nitrobenzene efficiently into aniline at room temperature.
Without hydrogenation, it would not be possible to manufacture many of today's medicines. It is a backbone process for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. But hydrogen is expensive.
However, if compressed hydrogen is not needed at all, significant savings are possible. It also means that many chemical processes can be much safer and easier to work with.
Chemists from the University of Johannesburg have demonstrated this, in research published in Colloids and Surfaces at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927775721003824
Credit
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images by Dele Peter Fapojuwo, University of Johannesburg. Video and narration by Therese van Wyk, University of Johannesburg.
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