A team of scientists has won America's most prestigious environmental award for developing a more efficient and environmentally-friendly palladium-platinum catalyst.

Headwaters Technology Innovation (HTI) has been recognised with the Presidential Green Chemistry Award by the Environment Protection Agency for its selective nanocatalyst technology.

Dubbed Nxcat, the catalyst enables the synthesis of H₂O₂ directly from hydrogen and oxygen, while eliminating all hazardous reaction conditions and chemicals of the existing process along with its undesirable byproducts.

Moreover, it also produces H₂O₂ more efficiently and cheaply, requires less energy use, utilises renewable feedstocks and produces no toxic waste.

Dr Bing Zhou of HTI said: "We are delighted here at HTI to have won such a prestigious award, and feel that our innovative technology achieves the Green Chemistry Program's principle of designing syntheses that generate substances with little or no toxicity to humans and the environment."

HTI expects to be able to begin commercial production of the catalyst in 2009.

Use of H₂O₂, instead of more frequently used chlorinated odidants, has hitherto been stymied by its expense.

Source:

Nanotechnology application receives highest environmental award given In the U.S, 26/06/07 http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=2138.php

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