Climate & Environment
Energy
Post-Doctoral Fellowships
France
Sustainable chemistry from alkanes
Plastics, synthetic fibers, pharmaceutical drugs: a few among a wealth of added-value products that are now born out of an alkane-based chemical synthesis. Indeed, alkanes or hydrocarbons, are the primary constituents of clean-burning fuels and natural gases, coveted by chemists. Yet, due to the generally unreactive nature of alkanes, chemical syntheses do not automatically yield the best possible results, with significant quantities of alkanes left unused. Besides ruining the latter’s ecological virtues, this is an undeniable loss for the economy.
Thus, to overcome the problems of such methods, Dr. Zuo Weiwei, by developing new dehydrogenation catalysts, chose to make better use out of cheap alkanes that were not properly converted, to form a new higher-added value chemical, the olefin. This process would represent a particularly important step toward an optimal use of natural resources, thereby answering society’s desire to find cheaper and cleaner sources of materials and energy.
Thus, to overcome the problems of such methods, Dr. Zuo Weiwei, by developing new dehydrogenation catalysts, chose to make better use out of cheap alkanes that were not properly converted, to form a new higher-added value chemical, the olefin. This process would represent a particularly important step toward an optimal use of natural resources, thereby answering society’s desire to find cheaper and cleaner sources of materials and energy.
Cheap alkanes, the way to sustainable chemistry?
To add or modify information on this page, please contact us at the following address: community.research@axa.com
![](https://axa-research.org/storage/media/38/conversions/stefansson-h-orri.thumbnail.gif)
Zuo
WEIWEI
Institution
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Département Chimie
Country
France
Nationality
Chinese
Related articles
Climate & Environment
Energy
Climate Change
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Ireland
Waste-to-energy, a true assessment of the potential of bioenergy in Nigeria
Whether in response to climate change, or to tackle fossil fuel dependency and energy security, today’s energy landscape is set... Read more
![](https://axa-research.org/storage/media/1052/conversions/arodudu-dunsin.thumbnail.jpg)
Dunsin
ARODUDU
Maynooth University
Climate & Environment
Energy
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
United Kingdom
Making green products mainstream : how to trigger radical industrial innovation ?
Tailoring policy interventions to trigger sector-wide energy transition To provide this wealth of new insight, Dr. Dumas’s investigations will focus... Read more
![](https://axa-research.org/storage/media/1057/conversions/dumas-marion.thumbnail.png)
Marion
DUMAS