The consortium, which includes scientists from both University of Delaware and University of Massachusetts, has so far used sugars from switchgrass, wood chips, and other biomass. “It’s still early in the research but what we’ve seen so far looks very promising,” said Dionisios Vlachos, a University of Delaware professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of the federally-funded CCEI. The three-step process uses a phosphorous all-silica zeolite catalyst. The development is good news for tire makers who have seen butadiene availability fall as petrochemical production shifts to shale gas-based feedstocks. Though cheaper, such raw materials result in less coproduct butadiene being produced.
“We don’t make the molecules as much as we used to,” Vlachos said. “All of the sudden, we’re in higher demand and less supply so we need to find a way to make them. And if we find a way that’s also renewable, that’s a winner.”
Their work was published in a recent issue of Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.