Inert atmosphere glove box workstation

这项建议涉及购置一个惰性气氛工作站或手套箱。手套箱工作站允许在安全条件下制备、储存和分析反应性很强的化学品。例如，该集团制造的一些化学品或其起始材料在暴露于手套箱内惰性氮气气氛之外的空气时会自发着火。 我小组的学生和研究人员制造的化合物将用作引发剂或催化剂，用于从可再生原料（原料）制造新的聚合物材料（塑料）。大多数现代塑料都是由石油化工原料制成的，这些原料正在迅速枯竭或昂贵得令人望而却步。我们的研究旨在以更节能和更高产的方式改善我们对这些资源的使用。我们还使用可从可再生资源（如植物）或废物（如二氧化碳（CO2））中廉价获得的替代原材料。简而言之，我们能用从植物中获得的化学物质制造新的塑料吗？至少能利用一些在我们大气中积累的二氧化碳吗？ 许多这些起始材料的问题，特别是二氧化碳，是它们非常不活泼，需要强制条件（如长反应时间，非常高的温度或压力），以便我们与它们进行化学反应。使用含金属的催化剂是使使用这些原料的工艺更快速和节能的一种方法。由于这些催化剂必须具有很强的反应性，因此必须在不含氧气和水的特殊条件下处理，因为氧气和水可能会破坏催化剂。 手套箱是全世界催化剂开发实验室中必不可少的设备。通过发现新的催化剂，化学家可以满足社会对高质量生活的持续需求，同时通过新的低能耗工艺和替代原料实现可持续发展的未来。这项研究对于以节能和可控的方式开发加拿大有限的石化资源也具有重要意义。

This proposal concerns the acquisition of an inert atmosphere workstation, or glove box. A glove box workstation allows for the preparation, storage and analysis of very reactive chemicals under safe conditions. For example, some of the chemicals made by the group, or their starting materials, will spontaneously catch fire upon exposure to air outside of the inert nitrogen atmosphere within the glove box.  The compounds made by students and researchers in my group will be used as initiators or catalysts for making new polymeric materials (plastics) from renewable starting materials (feedstocks). Most modern plastics are made from petrochemical sources, which are quickly becoming depleted or prohibitively expensive. Our research seeks ways to improve our use of these resources in a more energy efficient and higher yielding manner. We are also using alternative starting materials that can be obtained cheaply from renewable sources, such as plants, or from waste products, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). In short, can we make new plastics from chemicals obtained from plants, as well as use at least some of the CO2 that is accumulating in our atmosphere?  The problem with many of these starting materials, especially CO2, is that they are very unreactive and require forcing conditions (such as long reaction times, very high temperatures or pressures) in order for us to do chemistry with them. The use of metal-containing catalysts is one way to make the processes using these feedstocks more rapid and energy efficient. Since these catalysts must be very reactive, they must be handled under special conditions free from oxygen and water, which could destroy the catalyst.  A glove box is an essential piece of equipment in catalyst development laboratories worldwide. In discovering new catalysts, chemists can meet society's continuing desire for a high quality of life whilst enabling a sustainable future via new lower energy processes and alternative feedstocks. This research is also of importance in exploiting Canada's finite petrochemical resources in energy efficient and controlled ways.