Xiamen University Scientists Discover New Functional Results of "Nano Prince" Published in "Science"

The team of Academician Xie Suyuan and Professor Yuan Youzhu from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Xiamen University discovered the new function of "nano prince" - fullerene, thus breaking through the "stuck point" of ethylene glycol synthesis at atmospheric pressure
.

The results of the seven-year study were published in the April 15 issue of the American journal Science
.
Science is one of the most authoritative academic journals in the world
.

Fullerene, represented by C60, is a hollow molecule composed entirely of carbon
.
This time, scientists from Xiamen University discovered another role of C60 - as an "electron buffer" combined with transition metal catalysis
.
This achievement is the first time that C60 is used as an electronic buffer to modify the copper-based catalyst, which breaks through the technical difficulties of atmospheric hydrogenation catalysis for preparing ethylene glycol from syngas, and completes the oxalic acid dihydrogen at near atmospheric pressure and below 200 ℃.
Scale test of methyl ester hydrogenation to ethylene glycol
.
In vernacular words, the significance of the research results of Xiamen University scientists lies in the use of fullerenes to break through the "stuck point" of ethylene glycol synthesis at atmospheric pressure
.

How awesome is the research? Overcome the technical difficulties of atmospheric synthesis of ethylene glycol

Scientists from Xiamen University explained that there are two key points in this research achievement.
First, it is the first time to combine fullerenes as electron buffers with transition metal catalysts
.
Academician Xie Suyuan said that the combination of fullerenes as electron acceptors (or electron donors) with transition metal catalysts is not a new topic, but "the core of this technology lies in the combination of C60 and copper catalysts to realize the hydrogenation preparation of dimethyl oxalate.
The subversive catalytic performance improvement of ethylene glycol from high pressure to atmospheric pressure has injected new vitality into the catalysis of carbon clusters
.
"

The second key point is that under the buffering of C60, the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to prepare ethylene glycol will be greener and safer.
The research results can realize atmospheric synthesis.
Professor Yuan Youzhu said that this is different from Catalytic technologies that require higher hydrogen pressure are widely used today
.
It can be synthesized at atmospheric pressure, which means that safety hazards such as hydrogen leakage and explosion can be greatly reduced
.
In addition, atmospheric pressure synthesis can also overcome the problems of many side reactions and easy deactivation of catalysts
.

How meaningful is it? Reduce the dependence on petroleum for the production of chemical products such as polyester fibers and plastics

The application value of this achievement starts with ethylene glycol
.

Ethylene glycol is an important chemical raw material.
The polymerization of terephthalic acid (PTA) derived from paraxylene (PX) can produce polyester (PET) fibers and plastics that are widely used in daily life.
40 million tons, in addition, ethylene glycol can also be used in automobile antifreeze and industrial solvents, etc.
, which are closely related to people's livelihood
.

At present, these products are mainly synthesized from petroleum through ethylene oxide route.
However, because China's petroleum is highly dependent on imports, if we want to understand the scientific research results from the perspective of people's livelihood, the significance of the scientific research results of Xiamen University scientists is to develop non-petroleum synthesis routes.
Gas-to-ethylene glycol technology
.
Under the background that China's oil is highly dependent on imports, the development of non-petroleum route synthesis gas to ethylene glycol technology has important strategic significance
.

"Science" also promoted the results in the same issue, and pointed out that the research results will have an important impact in academia and industry circles, and will become mature
.

Xiamen University also introduced that the achievement has gone through the joint efforts of three generations of postgraduates and benefited from the sincere cooperation of six research groups, including the strong assistance of relevant experts from the Fujian Institute of the Structure of Matter of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Xiamen Funa New Material Technology Co.
, Ltd.

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"Nano Prince" Fullerenes

Fullerene, represented by C60, is a hollow molecule composed entirely of carbon
.
Fullerenes are structurally very similar to graphite, which is formed by stacking layers of graphene consisting of six-membered rings, while fullerenes contain not only six-membered but also five- and occasionally seven-membered rings
.

●It can make people beautiful: as an antioxidant factor in the preparation of cosmetics
.

●It can be applied to green energy: acts as a key material in solar cells
.

In addition, it has important application potential in biomedicine, catalyst and other fields
.