Opportunities, Initiatives, and Overlap: Physical Sciences Research Targeting Future

Energy NeedsAnne E. V. Gorden Representing Dept. Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research Opportunities in Energy:

• Expanding Ease of Access to Energy

• Reducing Environmental Impacts

• Improving Energy Efficiency

• Increasing Sustainability

Opportunities, Initiatives, and Overlap: Physical Sciences Research Targeting Future Energy Needs

Synthetic MethodsGreen Chemistry

And Environmental Science

Nuclear or Radiochemistry

Gorden

Biofuels and Biomimics

DuinMonsoorabadi

1-N-Me-His

5-Me-ArgS-Me-Cys

2-Me-Gln

ThioGly

F430

CoM-S-S-CoB

Materials

StanburyPatkowskiShannon

RSH + O2 ? (RSSR, RSO2H, (RSO2)2, RSO3H)RSO2H + oxidant ? (rates and products?)

Catalysis

Goldsmith Gorden

OPAAR

O

complex 1

TBHP

solvent

70ºC

1hrO

O

Facilities and Resources: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility Mass Spectrometry Facility Bruker D8 Powder Diffractometer Bruker APEX Single Crystal Diffractometer Physical Properties Measurement System Renishaw InVia Confocal Raman Microscope CRAIC UV-Vis Microspectrophotometer Alabama Supercomputer and

Computational Clusters

Opportunities, Initiatives, and Overlap: Physical Sciences Research Targeting Future Energy Needs

Examples of Current Funding• NSF - National Science Foundation

(Acevedo, Patowski, Duin)• DTRA - Defense Threat Reduction Agency

(Gorden)• PRF- American Chemical Society – Petroleum Research

Fund(Stanbury, Goldsmith, Patkowski)

• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration(Duin)

New Potential Sources of Funding• USDOE – Department of Energy• NEUP – Nuclear Energy University Programs• EMSP – Environmental Management Science Programs• NRC – Nuclear Regulatory Commission• NIH – National Institutes of Health• USDA – Department of Agriculture• ONR/ARO – Office of Naval Research or Army Research

Opportunities, Initiatives, and Overlap: Physical Sciences Research Targeting Future Energy Needs

Cluster Opportunity Ideas: Green Chemistry and Sustainability

Catalysis and Biocatalysis

Nuclear and Radiochemistry

Energy and the Environment

Opportunities, Initiatives, and Overlap: Physical Sciences Research Targeting Future Energy Needs

Principles of “Green” Chemistry

•Replace chemicals with more environmentally friendly materials

•Replace more costly catalyst metals with less costly less toxic metals for catalysis

•Improve yields to reduce purifications required

•Reduce solvents and materials required for separations or purifications

Anastas, P. T.; Kirchhoff, M. M., Origins, Current Status, and Future Challenges inGreen Chemistry. Acc. Chem. Res. 2002, 35, (9), 686-694.

Green Chemistry and Catalysis