Catalyst transforms renewable materials into key chemicalsResearchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities
have developed a revolutionary new catalyst technology that converts natural
materials such as corn and trees to the key chemicals acrylic acid and
acrylates, which are used in paints, coatings and superabsorbent Polymers. This new catalyst technology is also extremely
efficient, which results in lower manufacturing costs for renewable chemicals.This new catalyst converts corn-derived lactic acid-based
chemicals to acrylic acid and other acrylates with the best yield. This technology performs significantly better
when compared to other leading catalysts.The research was published online in the Journal of the
American Chemical Society Gold, an open access journal of the American Chemical
Society.The US National Science Foundation supported the research
team through the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers. This multi-university
team...