Novel nanorod oxidation catalysts

The aim is to exploit a recent discovery concerning the production of a new high activity catalyst for use in the production of formaldehyde from the oxidation of methanol using a novel nanorod catalysts. These new catalysts have been protected by a patent filing. The key feature of these catalysts is that they give higher yields that the current commercial catalysts. Funding is requested to complete patent exemplification and to ensure commercial exploitation can be achieved.

The proposed research is aimed at optimizing and developing a new discovery relating to the manufacture of formaldehyde based on the oxidation of methanol, using a new catalyst. Our initial discovery has shown that we make catalysts that are exceptionally more active than current commercial catalysts for this reaction. Over the course of this 1-year project, the potential of our novel method of preparing high activity catalysts for the production of formaldehyde will be demonstrated in continuous flow reactors, and commercialisation is first focused at replacing the existing commercial catalysts with our new material. Our new material can be used in the same reactors which will require no modification hence replacement will be facile once the full commercial potential of our discovery has been set out. The current world production of Formadehyde is >14 M tonnes/annum with a growth rate of 2 % per annum in the USA and Western Europe rising to 5-7% per annum in Asia. We aim to interact with companies that manufacture catalysts or manufature/use formaldehyde to ensure commercialization. Our new patented method that has been discovered as part of cutting edge research as part of the EPSRC funded project EP/F023103/1 NSF: MATERIALS WORLD NETWORK: HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST SYNTHESIS AT ACCESSIBLE, HIGH TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES, 2007-2010 now provides a crucial breakthrough that will permit commercialization to be achieved. Consequently this important new class of catalytic materials has a huge market potential. In particular we envisage our catalyst technology will have the following key advantages: 1) Improved efficiency of the catalyst: - Currently we are able to produce a catalyst that gives an improvement in yield of 2-4% of formaldehyde at 100% methanol conversion over the current commercial catalyst, and we believe this could be further improved by optimisation of the production process. The increased efficiency means that the catalyst will be preferred over the current commercial catalyst. The increased efficiency is due to the key observation that we have discovered a way to enhance the active surface area of the catalyst. 2) Environmental aspect: - Traditional procedures for the preparation of oxide catalysts for the oxidation of methanol have unsustainably high levels of water and nitrate usage which requires costly environmental clean up, and the need for the change to more resource-saving techniques is paramount for industry to stay competitive. Moreover, our technology will permit higher selectivities to be achieved with high rates and our technology now offers a viable environmentally-friendly and resource-saving alternative to the traditional catalysts. The work in this follow on funded project will focus on two key aspects: (1) supporting the patent application by providing the detailed patent exemplification, (2) ensuring commercial exploitation of the discovery by interaction with industry. The work will therefore have a major impact on the industrial sector, both in terms of companies that manufacture and supply heterogeneous catalysts as well as companies that use these heterogeneous catalysts in the manufacture/use of formaldehyde, a major commodity chemical. The successful outcome of this research will enable a new catalyst for the manufacture of formaldehyde to be commercially realised.