{"81251":{"#nid":"81251","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Green Chemistry: Researchers Win Environmental Protection Agency\/American Chemical Society Award for Creative Chemistry","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECharles Liotta, Georgia Tech\u0027s vice-provost for research and dean of graduate studies, and Charles Eckert, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, were honored for their development of benign tunable solvents that couple reaction and separation processes.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe awards, made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the American Chemical Society, also went to four companies, recognizing \u0022creative chemistry that shows promise for improving the environment.\u0022  An independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society judges the awards on behalf of stakeholders from the government, industry, academia and nonprofit sectors.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re using a systems approach to processing,\u0022 explained Eckert, who holds the school\u0027s J. Erskine Love, Jr. Institute Chair.  \u0022We have used novel and tunable solvent systems to integrate the reaction and separation processes to facilitate the reduction of waste, allow the recycling of catalysts and use more benign solvents.  We are developing methods that not only are more benign, but also have economic advantages in producing better products less expensively.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, they use near-critical water, which when heated to 275 degrees Celsius under pressure, dissolves non-polar organic chemicals that would be insoluble at normal conditions.  \u0022You can do a reaction with organic molecules, and when you want to separate the products, you just go back to room temperature and they separate out,\u0022 explained Liotta.  \u0022Water becomes a tunable solvent when you change the temperature and pressure.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing near-critical water instead of traditional acid-based processes eliminates the need for a neutralization step - and the resulting production of waste salts.  \u0022When you heat water, it tends to come apart to create acid and base that will catalyze reactions,\u0022 Eckert explained.  \u0022The acid and base go away by themselves when you cool the water.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther examples of their sustainable technology include the use of supercritical carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide-expanded liquids.  Their most recent work focuses on techniques for asymmetric chemistry, such as the synthesis of pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutical precursors.\t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite recognition for their research, Liotta - a physical-organic chemist who is a Regents Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry - and Eckert - a chemical engineer - say their top accomplishment is giving their students an education in multi-disciplinary green chemistry issues.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The reason we do research is because it\u0027s such a good way to train students,\u0022 said Eckert, who joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 1989 after 24 years at the University of Illinois.  \u0022Interdisciplinary research is the vehicle for educating students about collaboration and partnerships to solve problems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Eckert and Liotta, collaboration is much more than a pragmatic partnership to win research contracts.  Though administratively part of two different schools, the two professors share laboratory space and house their students together, mixing graduate and undergraduate student chemists and chemical engineers in ways designed to break down traditional barriers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The major social and scientific problems we will face in the 21st century are going to require a multi-disciplinary approach looking at things from a variety of viewpoints, said Liotta, who has spent his entire career at Georgia Tech.  \u0022Our students are educated in cooperative and collaborative research with other disciplines.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELiotta and Eckert work in Georgia Tech\u0027s Ford Environmental Science \u0026amp; Technology Building, which was designed for just that kind of intermingling.  Biologists, chemical engineers, atmospheric modelers, chemists, civil engineers and faculty with other backgrounds work in adjacent offices and laboratories, all part of a concerted effort to bring researchers together around environmental issues.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The fact that Charlie Liotta and I are able to co-occupy lab space and co-direct students in a building devoted to the environment has made it much easier for us to have an impact,\u0022 Eckert said.  \u0022Georgia Tech is very supportive of collaborative work.  I think it is very important that this award is being given for a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat collaboration extends beyond the laboratory into the Atlanta community, the state of Georgia and to industrial companies nationally and internationally, Liotta says.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You can look at Georgia Tech both horizontally and vertically,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022Horizontally, our culture is to bring different disciplines together to attack real-world problems.  Vertically, we build from fundamental to applied to commercialization and to economic development.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers look to industry not just for research support, but also for involvement with student education.  \u0022It\u0027s a real partnership with the companies,\u0022 Liotta said.  \u0022They are also taking part in student development and making sure that what we teach has real-world application.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Liotta-Eckert collaboration has benefited from other outside support, including collaborators from institutions outside Georgia and the Georgia Research Alliance, a public-private partnership that fosters economic development by investing in university faculty and instrumentation resources.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The state has recognized that university research is the intellectual driver for economic development,\u0022 Liotta said.  \u0022We are fortunate to be at Georgia Tech and in the state of Georgia where there is such a forward-looking process.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELiotta and Eckert met more than 20 years ago when both were consultants to DuPont.  Liotta had a reputation for work in phase-transfer catalysis, which allows the reaction of molecules that are not soluble in a common solvent.  Eckert\u0027s background was in molecular thermodynamics and phase equilibria, and he was a pioneer in the use of supercritical fluids for separations and reactions.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, the two professors have not only combined their respective fields, but also merged their careers.  \u0022This has evolved into a fantastic relationship,\u0022 adds Liotta with a grin.  \u0022We just had the right chemistry to make it work.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe awards were presented June 28 at a ceremony on Washington, D.C.  Also winning the recognition this year were scientists at Jeneil Biosurfactant Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Buckman Laboratories and Engelhard Corporation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Two Georgia Tech faculty members who have collaborated for more than 15 years on sustainable chemical processes are among the winners of 2004 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-06-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:38","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2004-06-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/newsrelease\/greenchemistry.htm","title":"Green Chemistry Award"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}