Recipient organisationCardiff UniversitySource-published name: Cardiff University
FundingNot disclosed
PeriodMar 2025 — Sept 2028
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
Chemists will squeeze catalytic reactions under extreme pressure inside an EPR spectrometer to watch free radicals form in real time. Catalysts are the workhorses behind biodegradable plastics, cleaner fuels, and fertilisers. But designing better ones requires knowing exactly how they work at the molecular level. Current techniques each have blind spots. This project fills a specific gap: no one has systematically observed how high pressure alters the radical intermediates that drive many catalytic reactions. The team will use a unique high-pressure electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) setup to track these short-lived species as pressure is cranked up. If successful, the work will give chemists a new tool to understand and optimise catalytic pathways. That could lead to more efficient industrial processes that consume less energy and generate less waste—directly supporting the shift toward greener manufacturing. This is fundamental science: it does not produce a market-ready catalyst tomorrow. But understanding how pressure steers radical reactions is the kind of mechanistic insight that, historically, has enabled breakthroughs in everything from polymer chemistry to pharmaceutical synthesis.
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Sustainable Chemistry has revolutionized the way in which products and processes are produced. In simple terms, sustainability in the chemical sciences seeks to enhance the efficiency of natural resources supporting the production of a greener and more resource-efficient future. This requires the minimization of energy consumption, embracing environmentally friendly chemicals, and effectively managing the life cycle of all materials involved. Catalysis plays a pivotal role in this sustainable chemistry future. From a technical perspective, modern catalysts are immensely sophisticated, engineered and advanced materials, that have contributed to the creation of biodegradable plastics, and reduced our reliance on harmful materials involved in the production of fuels and fertilizers. There has been an increased call for environmentally friendly products to address issues with sustainable energy production, reduce industrial emissions, and tackle climate change. Fundamental to the development of these new catalysts is the essential requirement to understand how they work and the mechanistic pathways of the of the reactions involved. To achieve this, multiple characterisation techniques are often deployed to understand how catalysts operate; no one technique is singularly definitive, and each present their own inherent advantages and disadvantages. This project will utilise a unique high pressure EPR spectroscopic technique to further gain a deeper understanding of catalytically driven reactions in solution, and how the effects of super high pressures alter and/or enhance the modes of the radical reactions.
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