U.K. to Spend $20.4 Million on Catalytic Chemistry

(Research.gov)

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council,  or EPSRC, a research funding agency in the U.K., will devote £12.9 million ($US 20.4 million) to the U.K. Catalysis Hub, a catalytic science research program to support economic growth. The program is based at the Research Complex at Harwell in Oxfordshire, and is expected to involve scientists and chemical engineers from more than 30 universities.

Catalysts are substances or compounds that speed up chemical reactions and thus often are useful in many industrial and manufacturing processes. The research program is expected to benefit the country’s chemical, energy, pharmaceutical, food, personal care, and materials companies, as well as emerging sectors such as industrial biotechnology.

Companies in the U.K. are considered major global players in all these industries and generate some £50 billion ($79 billion) per year as well as intellectual property for further development. EPSRC says the funding will also address societal priorities, such as the the clean-up of transport and industrial emissions, and production of clean fuels, biofuels, and clean water.

The research will cover four themes:

– Catalyst design. Richard Catlow of University College London, and based in Harwell, was awarded £3.7 million to design new and improved catalysts at the molecular level that lead to an optimization of catalytic processes.

– Energy catalysts. Christopher Hardacre of Queen’s University Belfast received £3 million to develop catalysts for transforming fossil fuel resources — remote natural gas, coal bed methane, and shale gas — and develop new sustainable energy sources, improve energy efficiency and storage, and reduce energy costs.

– Environmental catalysts. Graham Hutchings of Cardiff University was awarded £3.19 million to investigate waste materials such as carbon dioxide and use them to help clean up atmospheric pollutants, purify water for reuse, protect the environment, and encourage cleaner manufacturing.

– Catalysts for chemical transformations. Matthew Davidson at University of Bath received £2.9 million to develop new catalysts for sustainable chemical transformations in manufacturing processes for bulk  and fine chemicals, polymers, and other materials. “Our goal, says Davidson, “is to develop new catalytic processes as well as make existing processes more sustainable in order to give the U.K. a competitive edge.”

David Delpy, EPSRC’s chief executive, says “The U.K. has some outstanding researchers in the field of catalysis, and it is a vital field for U.K. industry with a major role to play in the creation of new or improved processes.”

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