Catalyzing a better future (Video)

You can’t get very far these days without catalysts. The tires on busses like the one I rode to work this morning are made with them. So are the molded plastic seats. Even the diesel busses run on is refined with a catalyst. Catalysts jumpstart chemical reactions that would otherwise never work or would work too slowly to be useful and they play a role in making in 90% of all commercially produced products. That includes fuels, plastics, and even medicines.

Catalysts are also helping to make our world more green. I got a reminder about the important but largely unappreciated role of these chemical wonders from watching a new video featuring Jeffrey Bricker, Ph.D. Chemists like Bricker are using catalysts to produce biodegradable products and to reduce the need for ingredients that are potentially toxic. Bricker was awarded the 2011 American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention for his work with catalysts, which he has used to make detergents that break down in the environment, to refine fuel without creating undesirable chemical byproducts and much more.