CCI Phase I: Center for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Feedstocks (CenSURF)

可再生原料可持续利用中心（CenSURF）将解决开发可再生资源二氧化碳和木质纤维素生物质作为石化产品替代原料的重大挑战。推进科学和技术以实现它们的工业利用将是可持续性化学领域的一项重大智力成就。CenSURF的研究人员将研究利用分子和非均相铜基催化剂，将二氧化碳电化学还原为乙烯和其他C2化合物的新策略。其他团队成员将使用生物启发的电化学氧化还原介质（金属基和有机氧化还原穿梭）探索生物聚合物木质素氧化分解为芳香单体，而第三组将探索最近发现的影响木质素和木质纤维素还原分解的催化剂家族。新的可持续实践将对化学实践和化学科学新研究人员的教育产生重大影响。CenSURF专注于开发仅基于地球丰富元素的多相和均相催化剂，这将确保新工艺的可扩展性，并保留贵金属和其他稀有元素供子孙后代使用。CenSURF将为研究生和本科生提供化学科学可持续发展的原则和实践教育，同时为可持续发展创新提供孵化器。中心成员还将开发可持续化学的教育和推广材料，这些材料将通过服务机构和互联网在学校广泛传播。化学创新中心（CCI）计划支持能够解决重大、长期基础化学研究挑战的研究中心，这些研究中心有很大可能产生变革性研究并导致创新。这些中心将通过分享他们解决这一具有挑战性问题的方法的结果，吸引广泛的科学和公众兴趣。

The Center for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Feedstocks (CenSURF) will address the significant challenge of developing the renewable resources carbon dioxide and lignocellulosic biomass as alternative feedstocks to petrochemicals. Advancing the science and technology for their industrial utilization will be a major intellectual achievement in the chemistry of sustainability. CenSURF researchers will investigate new strategies for electrochemical reduction of CO2 to ethylene and to other C2 compounds, using both molecular and heterogeneous copper-based catalysts. Other team members will probe oxidative disassembly of biopolymer lignin to aromatic monomers, using bio-inspired electrochemical redox mediators (both metal-based, and organic redox shuttles), while a third group will explore a recently-discovered family of catalysts that effect reductive disassembly of lignin and lignocellulose. New sustainable practices will have a major impact both on the practice of chemistry and on the education of new researchers in the chemical sciences. CenSURF's focus on developing heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts based only on Earth-abundant elements will ensure that new processes are scalable and preserve precious metals and other rare elements for use by future generations. CenSURF will educate graduate and undergraduate students in the principles and practices of sustainability in the chemical sciences, while providing an incubator for innovation in sustainability. Center members will also develop educational and outreach materials in Sustainable Chemistry that will be disseminated widely in schools, through service organizations and via the internet.The Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI) Program supports research centers that can address major, long-term fundamental chemical research challenges that have a high probability of both producing transformative research and leading to innovation. These Centers will attract broad scientific and public interest by sharing the results of their approach to this challenging question.