A chemist8217;s midas touch

Chirik,39,has learned how to make iron function like platinum,in chemical reactions that are crucial to manufacturing scores of basic materials. While he cant,sadly,transmute a lump of iron ore into a pile of valuable jewelry,his version of alchemy is far more practical,and the implications are wide-ranging.

The process could herald a new era of flexible manufacturing technologies,while enabling companies to steer clear of scarce elements as prices rise or obtaining them becomes environmentally or geopolitically risky.

No chemist would think lithium was in short supply, Chirik said,but what happens if you put a lithium battery in every car? This is why chemistry needs to be ahead of the curve.

Chiriks work involves dissolved catalysts,which are mixed into the end product. The molecules of the catalyst dissipate during the reaction. For instance,a solution containing platinum is used to make silicone emulsifiers,compounds that in turn feed products like makeup,cookware and glue. Tiny amounts of the expensive metal are scattered in all these things; your jeans,for instance,contain unrecoverable particles of platinum.

We8217;re not about to run out of platinum, said Matthew Hartings,a chemist at American University in Washington,but this process spends that platinum in a nonsustainable way.

Chiriks chemistry essentially wraps an iron molecule in another,organic molecule called a ligand. The ligand alters the number of electrons available to form bonds. It also serves as a scaffold,giving the molecule shape.

In addition to iron,Chiriks lab also works with cobalt. Using cobalt,Chirik said,the scientists have generated a whole new reaction that no one has ever seen before. It produces new types of plastics using very inexpensive starting materials.

A vast majority of the chemicals we manufacture and then use to make other products require catalysts. And a lot of catalysts use noble metals like platinum,palladium and rhodium,which are expensive. A pound of platinum costs about 22,000. A pound of iron,meanwhile,costs about 50 cents.

As an undergraduate chemistry major,Chirik worked on reactions that used iridium as a catalyst. A pound of iridium costs about 16,000. Chiriks boss kept the iridium-based compound locked in a desk drawer.

You had to walk from his office to the lab and not talk to anyone, Chirik recalled. The experience left him with the seed of an idea,he said. Why cant we do this with something cheaper?

On a spring afternoon at the Princeton lab,a graduate student toiled away at a glovebox,a vacuum chamber that prevents the iron from rusting. Rust is a potential downside of using iron in manufacturing,and controlling it could prove challenging and expensive.

Researchers in Chiriks lab are also hunting for ways to use catalysts to convert nitrogen from the air into forms used in various products,from fertiliser to carpet fiber.

Sustainability often focuses on recycling cans and better gas mileage, Chirik said. While important,those efforts are only part of the picture.

When you buy jeans,some weird element on the periodic table was used to make them, Chirik said. Or you think youre doing something good by buying a Prius,but its got all this neodymium in it that comes out of a pit mine in Mongolia.

If you can transition to a completely earth-abundant world, he said,you can have a huge impact.