A team led by IIT Guwahati scientists has developed efficient “pincer” catalysts having the potential to transform industrial/biomass waste into valuable chemicals.
IITGs on Monday said tiny amounts of “pincer” catalysts repeatedly convert large amounts of industrial waste such as glycerol into lactic acid and hydrogen. Such catalysts also efficiently convert bioethanol, a low-energy density fuel, into high-energy density butanol.
One could envisage pincer catalyst as an organic molecule (ligand) holding the metal with three arms, a member of the research team, which started work on the project last year, told The Telegraph.
