Green Catalyst Destroys Pesticides And Munitions Toxins, Finds Carnegie Mellon University
- Date:
- August 29, 2005
- Source:
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Summary:
- A chemical catalyst developed at Carnegie Mellon University completely destroys dangerous nitrophenols in laboratory tests, report researchers at the 230th meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. Nitrophenols are man-made pollutants that mostly originate from wastewater discharges from the dye, pesticide and ammunition industries. Thousands of tons of these agents are produced yearly, and they are registered as priority pollutants by the EPA. Many of these compounds cannot be destroyed by existing means.
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A chemical catalyst developed at Carnegie Mellon Universitycompletely destroys dangerous nitrophenols in laboratory tests,according to Arani Chanda, a doctoral student who is presenting hisfindings on Sunday, Aug. 28, at the 230th meeting of the AmericanChemical Society (ACS) in Washington, D.C. (Division of Industrial andEngineering Chemistry, Convention Center Hall A).
"We found anefficient, rapid and environmentally friendly means of completelydestroying these compounds," said Chanda, who works in the laboratoryof Terrence Collins, the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry anddirector of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at the MellonCollege of Science (MCS) at Carnegie Mellon.
Nitrophenols areman-made pollutants that mostly originate from wastewater dischargesfrom the dye, pesticide and ammunition industries as well as fromvarious chemical-manufacturing plants. They are also found in dieselexhaust particles. Thousands of tons of these agents are producedyearly by countries around the world. Registered as priority pollutantsby the EPA, they are toxic to aquatic life. They produce immediatetoxic effects to the nervous system, and some reports have implicatedthem as possible endocrine disruptors. Many of these compounds cannotbe destroyed by existing means.
The catalyst, one of a family ofcatalysts called Fe-TAML®s (TAML stands for tetra-amido macrocyclicligand), works with hydrogen peroxide. Its "green" design is based onelements used naturally in biochemistry. Fe-TAMLs were discovered byCollins, whose group has developed an extensive suite of thesecatalysts to provide clean, safe alternatives to existing industrialpractices, as well as ways to remediate other pressing problems thatcurrently lack solutions.
"Fe-TAMLs are much easier to use indestroying nitrophenols because they work at ambient temperatures andneutral pH," said Collins. "Existing detoxification methods areinefficient and work only under acidic conductions. Our method can beused over a much broader pH range, including wastewater pH conditions."
Fe-TAMLsalready have shown promise in killing a simulant of a biologicalwarfare agent (anthrax), reducing fuel pollutants, treating pulp andpaper processing byproducts, and detoxifying pesticides. A major goalis to develop Fe-TAMLs as a safe, cost-effective means of global waterdecontamination.
Collins and other members of his laboratory arepresenting additional findings about Fe-TAMLs during these sessions atthe 230th ACS meeting:
"TAML green oxidation catalysis for safelydestroying pollutants and microbes in water," oral presentation byTerrence Collins, INOR 265, Strategies and Molecular Mechanisms ofContaminant Degradation Chemistry, 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, ConventionCenter 147B;
"Micellar regulation of the activity of Fe-TAML®activators of peroxides in aqueous solutions," poster presentation byDeboshri Banerjee, I&EC 11, 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, ConventionCenter, Hall A.
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MCS maintains innovative research andeducational programs in biological sciences, chemistry, physics,mathematics and several interdisciplinary areas. For more information,visit www.cmu.edu/mcs. For more information about Fe-TAMLs, please visit www.chem.cmu.edu/groups/Collins/.
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