Green Chemistry Challenge: 2022 Specific Environmental Benefit—Climate Change
University of California Davis
Professor Mark Mascal and his lab at the University of California Davis, in partnership with CEO John Bissell and his team at Origin Materials, are being recognized for the development and implementation of a novel technology for the production of chemicals from biomass (such as forestry, agricultural and municipal wastes) that can replace products that are commonly made from petroleum. This technology could have positive environmental impacts, particularly in the plastics industry, as the chemicals produced can be used to make materials which are both net zero-carbon and recyclable.
Summary of Technology:
Calls to limit the use of fossil carbon in the production of industrial materials such as plastics have helped bring about the advancement of sustainable technologies, in particular those that make use of biobased feedstocks. The molecule 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) has generated strong interest as a biobased platform molecule. However, HMF is only practically derived from the food sugar fructose, which is extracted from cereal grains and is relatively expensive. To overcome the limitations of HMF, Professor Mascal's team developed a process that involves acidic digestion of carbohydrates in a two-phase reactor, which produces 5-(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF) in high yield directly from raw biomass. CMF is even more synthetically versatile than HMF and can be used to make a wide variety of chemicals that would otherwise be produced from petroleum. For example, Origin Materials have developed a commercial process for the generation of biobased, net zero-carbon polyethylene terephthalate (PET plastic) and associated products starting from CMF. This novel chemistry could have significant environmental impacts by replacing fossil resources with biomass, especially when the technology is scaled to a mainstream commercial industry.
Other Resources:
- Learn more about green chemistry.
- Learn more about Professor Mascal’s research at the University of California Davis.
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