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Abstract:
McGill researcher develops eco-friendly nanocatalyst

Nanotech discovery may green chemical manufacturing

Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Posted on February 17th, 2010

A new nanotech catalyst developed by McGill University Chemists Chao-Jun Li, Audrey Moores and their colleagues offers industry an opportunity to reduce the use of expensive and toxic heavy metals. Catalysts are substances used to facilitate and drive chemical reactions. Although chemists have long been aware of the ecological and economic impact of traditional chemical catalysts and do attempt to reuse their materials, it is generally difficult to separate the catalyzing chemicals from the finished product. The team's discovery does away with this chemical process altogether.

Li neatly describes the new catalyst as "use a magnet and pull them out!" The technology is known as nanomagnetics and involves nanoparticles of a simple iron magnet. Nanoparticles are sized between 1 and 100 nanometres (a strand of hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide). The catalyst itself is chemically benign and can be efficiently recycled. In terms of practical applications, their method can already be used to generate the reactions that are required for example in pharmaceutical research, and could in the future be used to achieve reactions necessary for research in other industries and fields.

The discovery was published in Highlights in Chemical Science on January 18, 2010. Li is known as one of the world leading pioneers in green chemistry, an entirely new approach to the science that tries to avoid the use of toxic, petrochemical-based solvents in favour of basic substances.

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About McGill University
McGill University is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the country's leading research-intensive universities. With students coming to McGill from about 150 countries, our student body is the most internationally diverse of any medical-doctoral university in Canada.

The oldest university in Montreal, McGill was founded in 1821 from a generous bequest by James McGill, a prominent Scottish merchant. Since that time, McGill has grown from a small college to a bustling university with two campuses, 11 faculties, some 300 programs of study, and more than 34,000 students. The University partners with four affiliated teaching hospitals to graduate over 1,000 health care professionals each year.

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Contacts:
William Raillant-Clark,
Media Relations Office, McGill University
Tel.: 514-398-2189

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