Research published in the latest Nature describes how the team used its technique successfully to remove a dye completely from water, the scientist said. The first practical application could come within a couple of years in the textile industry, which releases countless tons of waste water into the environment every year.
"This work opens the door to using environmentally friendly solvents in this very solvent-intensive process," DeSimone said. "We are very excited about the possibilities."
In an accompanying commentary in Nature, Dr. Joan F. Brennecke of the University of Notre Dame said carbon dioxide and ?green chemistry? have become inextricably intertwined in recent years.
"This may seen ironic in light of the bad press it has endured in connection with global warming, but using CO2 as a solvent does not result in any net production," Brennecke wrote. "In fact, most CO2-based processes are designed to recycle and reuse essentially all of the CO2. With this in mind, the excitement about CO2 has developed because of its potential to replace hazardous organic solvents, especially chlorinated liquids and freons."
In June, DeSimone, the youngest person ever to hold a chair at UNC-CH,
received the 1997 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for his earlier work with carbon dioxide. In
1992, he won a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and the
following year, the White House named him one of 30 U.S. Presidential Faculty
Fellows.
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Contact: David L. Williamson
rdtokids@email.unc.edu
919-962-2091
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
24-Sep-1997