Hub 'Science' 3: Catalysis for the Circular Economy and Sustainable Manufacturing

催化是化学工业的核心科学领域-这是英国整体经济的一个非常成功和重要的部分，近年来英国的产量每年超过500亿英镑，在世界上排名第七。面对世界范围内的巨大竞争，这一地位得以保持。英国要保持其领先地位，就必须保持研究创新，为此，英国催化中心于2013年成立。在过去的四年里，该中心成功地汇集了40多个大学团体，在当代科学的这一关键领域开展创新和合作研究项目。该中心的成功可归功于其包容和开放的精神，自2013年成立以来，许多团体加入了其网络;其对合作的高度重视;以及其位于哈维尔校园的物理中心，该中心靠近钻石同步加速器、ISIS中子源和中央激光设施，催化科学的成功开发一直是该中心最近科学的一个主要特点。催化中心的下一阶段将建立在这一成功的基础上，同时保留当前中心的关键特征和结构，将在国内和国际上推广其方案。未来的中心结构将包括一个核心计划，该计划将协调中心的科学主题，在下一阶段的初始阶段将包括：-优化，预测和设计新的催化剂-水-能源关系中的催化-循环经济和可持续制造的催化-生物催化和生物转化。本项目涉及这些主题中的第三个主题，其总体目标是以循环和可持续方法为核心开发基础催化。这对于化学和化学使用工业来说，将具有当前和未来的重要性。该项目将包括由具体工作包支持的以下领域：-CO2形成C-C键反应的新型合作催化剂;-活化C-O键以使生物衍生原料增值;-使用和理解流动中的可持续催化氧化过程;-地球上丰富的金属在资源高效催化中;-保持平台分子发挥作用：聚合物的催化化学再循环;- 用于高性能塑料的新型可持续聚合物架构;-优化生物基平台分子：建立二甲酰基呋喃作为聚合物的生物基平台。该项目将与其他中心科学项目密切互动。枢纽结构本质上是多学科的，包括工程和科学学科的广泛投入，以及不同主题之间的强烈互动和交叉。专题结构将使该中心能够涵盖当前催化科学的主要领域。

Catalysis is a core area of science that lies at the heart of the chemicals industry - an immensely successful and important part of the overall UK economy, where in recent years the UK output has totalled over £50B annually and is ranked 7th in the world. This position is being maintained in the face of immense competition worldwide. For the UK to sustain its leading position it is essential that innovation in research is maintained, to achieve which the UK Catalysis Hub was established in 2013. The Hub has succeeded over the last four years in bringing together over 40 university groups for innovative and collaborative research programmes in this key area of contemporary science. The success of the Hub can be attributed to its inclusive and open ethos which has resulted in many groups joining its network since its foundation in 2013; to its strong emphasis on collaboration; and to its physical hub on the Harwell campus in close proximity to the Diamond synchrotron, ISIS neutron source and Central Laser Facility, whose successful exploitation for catalytic science has been a major feature of the recent science of the Hub.The next phase of the Catalysis Hub will build on this success and, while retaining the key features and structure of the current hub, will extend its programmes both nationally and internationally. The future hub structure will comprise a core programme which will coordinate the scientific themes of the Hub, which in the initial stages of the next phase will comprise:- Optimising, predicting and designing new catalysts- Catalysis at the water-energy nexus- Catalysis for the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing- Biocatalysis and bio-transformations.The present project concerns the third of these themes whose overall aim is to develop fundamental catalysis with circular and sustainable approaches at their core. This will be of current and future importance to the chemical and chemistry-using industries. The project will comprise the following areas supported by specific workpackages:- New cooperative catalysts for C-C bond forming reactions from CO2;- Activation of C-O bonds for valorisation of bio-derived feedstocks;- Using and understanding sustainable catalytic oxidation processes in flow;- Earth-abundant metals in resource efficient catalysis;- Keeping platform molecules in play: catalytic chemical recycling of polymers;- New sustainable polymer architectures for high performance plastics;- Optimising bio-based platform molecules: establishing diformyl furan as a bio-based platform for polymers.The project will interact strongly with the other hub science projects. The Hub structure is intrinsically multidisciplinary including extensive input from engineering as well as science disciplines and with strong interaction and cross-fertilisation between the different themes. The thematic structure will allow the Hub to cover the major areas of current catalytic science.