Chemistry

In 2019, the PROPHECY research project gained insights into what happens at the molecular level during artificial photosynthesis, i.e. when sunlight and carbon dioxide are used as the starting materials for a chemical reaction. For instance, methane and hydrogen can be produced in this way. By 2023, the follow-up project PRODIGY is expected to expand the range of possible products by further deepening the understanding of the molecular processes of such reactions.

One valuable raw material that has so far mainly been burned is the biopolymer lignin. It is one of the major components of plants and a promising alternative to crude oil for the production of plastics. "Lignin is the largest source of naturally occurring aromatic compounds, but so far it has mainly been regarded as a by-product or fuel in the paper industry," says Mats Johansson of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Stockholm regretfully.

In the development of drugs, materials or processes, plant and animal life have time and again inspired scientists to innovate. For example, researchers used the swimming fern as a model to reduce the frictional resistance of ships by means of a new coating, and many have tried to duplicate the delicate but stable web of the spider. Now it is the grasshopper's feet that have inspired an interdisciplinary team at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität (CAU) Kiel to develop an adaptive frictional system.

Bioethanol is an alcohol produced from either cereals or sugar beets as well as from agricultural residues. In a bioethanol factory, there are large tanks in which yeasts ferment the sugar-containing biomass to ethanol. Bioethanol is added to petrol and is available as Super-E10 at petrol stations.

Plant residues are ideal raw materials for biobased alternatives to products of the petroleum industry: They do not compete with the cultivation of food and animal feed and promise additional added value to the plant products already produced. In practice, there is often a difficulty: the microorganisms used in biotechnology usually cope with only one of the two varieties of sugars, which are found in vegetable residues.

The outdoor outfitter Vaude and the manufacturer of thermoplastic elastomers and flexible polymer compounds Hexpol TPE have taken another small step towards a biobased circular economy: They present a drinking valve made of bioplast

Nature offers a wide range of active ingredients that play an increasingly important role in medicine, the pharmaceutical and food industries. Natural substances that are not very popular are gradually coming into the spotlight. Ferulic acid is one of these candidates. It is contained in many plants such as rice, dill or roseroot and has health promoting ingredients as well as flavours which are relevant for the production of aromas such as vanillin and the typical wheat beer taste.

Every year the chemical industry produces around 100 million tonnes of methanol. However, the production of this important basic chemical is based on fossil raw materials and causes high CO₂ emissions. The exact opposite would be conceivable: Methanol can also be produced from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide. But process requirements for producing green methanol on an industrial scale have been little researched to date. The project "Power-to-Methanol - Grünes Methanol", funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics, wants to change this.

In the Corona pandemic, protective masks have become an everyday item.

For many years, medicine has been looking at many molecules from nature, but usually these compounds are so complex that it is difficult to chemically replicate them. If they do succeed, the basis for this is ultimately petroleum-based chemistry. In nature, by contrast, enzymes produce these complex molecules. One of these enzymes is the enzyme AmbDH3, which a team led by Frank Hahn has now investigated in greater detail. This enzyme is involved in the formation of Ambruticin, a suspected fungicide in bacteria.