| Summary: |
This project is primarily aimed at generating new fundamental knowledge and fostering new prospects and frontiers in the field of catalysis for the sustainable production of chemicals and commodities. Rethinking important metal-based catalytic processes in the light of new tailored metal-free catalytic architectures designed and fabricated starting from appropriate nanoscale building blocks, is the fundamental target of this research project. Major efforts have been made in the last decades aimed at addressing catalytic approaches, as much as possible, denoted by sustainable and environmentally friendly features. A large fraction of products made today are produced with traditional methods developed several decades ago. In order to keep the European process industry competitive worldwide, the development of technologically advanced processes represent a fundamental prerequisite.
The FREECATS proposal deals with the development of new metal-free catalysts, either in the form of bulk nano-materials or in hierarchically organized structures both capable to replace traditional noble metal-based catalysts in catalytic transformations of strategic importance. The new metal-free catalytic materials will be applied to specific processes traditionally carried out by means of precious metal-based materials.
The application of the new materials will eliminate the use for platinum group metals and rare earth elements such as ceria used in fuel cell technology (automotive applications and others), production of light olefins, and in wastewater and water purification. Replacing platinum group metal alternatives in these three emerging technologies will lead to a significant reduction in demand of platinum group metals in Europe, at least mounting to the current automotive platinum group metal demand, estimated to be in the order of 50-100 tons per year. |