Project description
Cost-effective, sustainable catalysts for high-value chemical processes
Catalysts are essential for producing everyday products, from pharmaceuticals and pesticides to electronics and plastics. Yet, they often rely on rare and expensive metals like rhodium, iridium and platinum. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CLUS_COOP_CAT project will help overcome these challenges by using abundant, low-cost elements such as iron, nickel, boron and aluminium. These elements will be combined into cooperative systems anchored on dynamic clusters to create a new family of sustainable catalysts. These catalysts will drive high-value chemical processes, including olefin functionalisation and CO utilisation, and should help uncover the mechanisms behind their activity. The proposed research will provide synthetic chemistry with novel tools to create essential everyday molecules more sustainably.
Objective
This proposal uses synthetic chemistry to develop a novel family of sustainable catalysts based on inexpensive and abundant elements.
Up to 90% of chemical products manufactured require the use of catalysts, making catalysts crucial to how all modern commodities are made, from pharmaceuticals and pesticides to electronics and plastics. Catalysts often rely on the reactivity of expensive and rapidly depleting metals, such as Rh, Ir, and Pt. First-row transition metals (e.g. Fe, Ni) and main group elements (e.g. B, Al) are sustainable alternatives with costs up to 10 000 times cheaper. Individually, they are not competitive, but these elements can cooperate to create systems that are greater than the sum of their parts. We will build cooperative catalysts with these elements anchored on dynamic clusters, a fresh approach that will overcome barriers in the field.
Three objectives will be met:
-Synthesize a new family of cooperative catalysts with main group and 3d metal moieties anchored onto dynamic cluster platforms.
-Catalyze two high-value synthetic transformations: olefin functionalization and CO utilization.
- Understand the mechanism of catalytic transformations and cluster dynamics.
This cohesive and innovative project provides synthetic science with novel tools to make everyday molecules, and feeds into the European Commissions’ priority area ‘A European Green Deal’.
Dr Wenger has an outstanding track-record for his early career stage and a rapidly growing international reputation. He has demonstrated the necessary skills to deliver this project in a timely manner, and with the support of a MSCA fellowship, he will gain additional valuable skills in catalytic and kinetic science, spectroscopy, and computational chemistry, while building robust long-term collaborations across Europe. This fellowship will be a launchpad in Dr Wenger’s academic and personal development, and be instrumental in allowing him to establish his own independent research career.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
- engineering and technology civil engineering architecture engineering sustainable architecture sustainable building
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.