TIFR creates new chemical reaction method

Hyderabad: A team of scientists at TIFR Hyderabad has developed a what it said was a breakthrough method to accelerate industrial chemical reactions, making them significantly faster and more efficient. Their innovation has the potential to enhance the production of medicines, fuels, and other essential chemicals.

Industries rely on catalysts to speed up chemical reactions, which are broadly classified into two types: homogeneous (that dissolve in the reaction mixture but are difficult to separate), and heterogeneous (that remain solid and are easier to reuse). Researchers have long worked on improving heterogeneous catalysts, particularly by increasing their porosity to enhance efficiency.

Taking this a step further, the TIFR team, led by Ritesh Haldar, developed a cross-flow microfluidic set-up incorporating a porous thin film catalyst. In this set-up, reactants (the starting chemicals) pass over the thin film, where the reaction occurs in multiple cycles, resulting in a significantly higher conversion of reactants into products. This approach enables industrial reactions to be completed much faster and with greater efficiency.

In a key test reaction, known as Knoevenagel condensation, the team achieved an impressive turnover frequency, demonstrating exceptionally high catalyst efficiency. This improvement is attributed to better control over how reactants interact with the catalyst.