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Chemists Seek Greater Recognition for Catalysis • Catalysis Society meeting mulls over international efforts to increase funding, gain direction for the discipline Joseph Haggin, C&EN Chicago ne of the immediate tasks facing catalytic chemists ground the world is gaining recognition for their science along with R&D support from government, industry, and academia. Most industrialized countries are now in differing stages of effecting organizational structures that implement this task. An indication of how these efforts are progressing was provided early this month in Pittsburgh at the 13th North American Meeting of the Catalysis Society, a biannual affair. A symposium there featured an international status report on catalysis in various developed countries. In Europe, for example, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany have already instituted formal organizations to provide support. Other European countries as well as several pan-European organizations are dealing with the issues. Japanese chemists, likewise, are organizing to better promote the cause of catalysis, albeit in a political and economic setting that is quite different from that in Europe. The U.S., which is still the scientific leader in most areas of catalysis, seems to be losing ground to foreign competition both in the research laboratory and in the chemical plant. This is occurring despite at least a decade of studies and reports from blue-ribbon committees that attest to the fact that new catalysis technology is absolutely vital to the future of U.S. chemistry and industry. Everywhere, a seeming paradox is at work. In every developed country, cataly-
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sis is acknowledged as critically important for achieving national industrial and economic progress, for expanding international political and economic harmony, and for reversing environmental damage from human mismanagement of the biosphere. Yet it is almost universally being subjected to cuts in research funding and to sometimes drastic reductions industrially in personnel and fiscal support. This paradox is sometimes attributed to the nature of catalysis. Catalysis is not easily identified by voters and politicians, who provide funds for basic research, or by those stockholders who can't or won't look beyond the next dividend payment. Catalysis also suffers from an unnecessarily prolonged popular description as a "black art," although it long ago shed this characteristic and emerged as a bona fide scientific discipline. Underscoring this point, university texts in catalysis—graduate and undergraduate—are now available, and graduate courses in catalysis are regularly being taught in several countries.
Despite considerable differences in specifics among the approaches now being taken by countries, as described at the symposium in Pittsburgh, the most striking aspect is the similarity in problems and proposed solutions. A key element in common is cooperation among government, industry, and academia—not only in research funding but also in a much closer identification of national interests through the direction of research at all levels. The European position was outlined in Pittsburgh by Eric G. Derouane, a professor of catalysis and general chemistry at Facultés Universitaires NotreDame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium; chairman of the University-Industry Committee on Catalysis of the Royal Belgian Academy Council of Applied Sciences; and vice president of the European Federation of the Catalysis Societies. Catalysis in Europe, Derouane says, benefits from a strong chemical industry that has traditionally supported catalysis R&D. Much of the early success of catalysis was of European origin,
Bell (above): long industry-academia relationships best. Derouane: industry-university link strong in Europe MAY 31,1993 C&EN
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SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY problem. As in the U.S., operation, according to Derouane. To blue-ribbon committees this end, he says, research must be reorin Europe have issued ganized to promote basic knowledge, Belgian academy has key role in reports on the impor- enhance industrial competitiveness, Belgian catalysis research tance of catalysis. Such and ensure faster response to societal reports have been pro- needs. Individual states and the EC at Royal Belgian Belgian Belgian duced in Belgium, large should fund "big science" in the Academy National Royal Society France, Germany, and future, he says. Furthermore, they should Council of Applied Science of Chemistry Sciences Catalysts Foundation the Netherlands. As in finance a more effective scientific infraCommittee the U.S., the reports have structure, unify regulatory research, highlighted the impor- and, to some extent, become involved tance of catalysis in in societal research, especially as it in/ every aspect of daily life fluences the effects of industrial proUniversity-Industry and its economic impor- duction. Committee on Catalysis tance to the chemical The major funding agencies in Europe industry. The reports are found at three levels. Pan-European also note that catalytic agencies include the EC, Eureka (the University and industrial laboratories chemistry is a mature European advanced-technology R&D technology that, despite program), the Council of Europe, and its maturity, continues the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. specifically from a strong industry-uni- to demonstrate progress at a high rate At the national level, there are the science foundations and the various minisversity "connection" that is still in and in unique directions. place. However, although the connecOne of the characteristics of catalytic tries for areas such as research, education may still be strong, circumstances chemistry most often stressed is that it is tion, environment, trade, and industry. change. crucial in solving environmental prob- In most European countries, Derouane Some causes of changing circum- lems and in optimizing technology to says, academies do, on occasion, contribstances are obvious—for example, the justify continued investment in industry. ute funds, but they are usually limited to formation of multinational economic These are not, Derouane says, the marks moral support. Some regional organizaassociations in Europe, and the interna- of a dying discipline. Rather, they con- tions dispense funds, but these are usutionalization if not globalization of in- vincingly demonstrate the need for inte- ally limited to rather specific projects with a distinctly regional character. dustry. Universities also are changing, grated research at all levels. through improvement in communicaIndustrial funding in Europe comes One of the new European organizations and the networking of laborato- tions aimed at aiding the conduct of cat- with restrictions, Derouane explains. ries and faculties via computers. These alytic research is the European Federa- Typically, it is shared with the EC or networks facilitate publication and per- tion of Catalysis Societies (EFCATS), national governments. Strong basic remit direct electronic connection of ap- which started up in 1990. At present, search, provided it is relevant to indusparatus and computational methodolo- about 25 countries are represented. trial or societal needs, is the usual targy at laboratories many miles apart. About half are from Western Europe, get for industrial funds. No new cenThe newest development is direct net- five or six from European Free Trade ters of excellence are being established. working of lecture halls and demon- Association countries, and the rest from Rather, the Europeans have found it stration laboratories. Eastern Europe. EFCATS will sponsor preferable to strengthen existing reBut there are also problems. Derouane biannual scientific conferences, promote search ventures and to stimulate comobserves that despite the benefits de- catalysis to young scientists, and try to petition between various institutes. rived from the unity of the European establish uniformity in the European This approach, Derouane says, fits in rather well with the enhancement of Community (EC), many "structural dif- funding of catalysis research. ferences" remain between member Derouane believes catalysis must be interdisciplinary research at the basic states. These are barriers to intellectual considered in the light of new attitudes level. Private funding of industry research interchange. Similarly, differences in na- toward science and technology. In Eutional education systems impede the ex- rope, everything is now "high tech," is usually highly targeted to favor the change of students and faculties. And and although genuinely important, exchange of individual scientists, inbarriers exist to professional mobility, Derouane says, in many ways high tech- dustrial consulting by academics, and both in industry and academe. nology has become something of a fad. lectures in academia by industrial sciProbably the most frustrating barrier This tends to accelerate the rate of indus- entists. Most of the direct industrial for the research community, Derouane trial innovation in response to mar- funding that sponsors graduate resays, is caused by differences in re- kets—a "market pull and an industry search and research contracts have search funding systems. Each country push." As a result, greater importance is great flexibility with respect to patent has a unique method for funding re- placed on industrial research, which, in rights and charges by the institutions turn, places greater strain on education involved. Most of the emphasis is search. placed on the work of an individual inIt is obvious to chemists that catalysis to keep up with developments. Most chemists in Europe see these de- vestigator. The methods of industrytouches every aspect of daily life, Derouane points out, but it is not obvious to velopments as more than enough justifi- university collaboration are somewhat everybody else. Therein lies a further cation for greater industry-academic co- familiar to colleagues in the U.S. but
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have minor variations peculiar to European laws. The impression a listener is left with after hearing Derouane speak is that in Europe, even with all the barriers, there is a well-developed camaraderie among scientists that often turns the barriers into minor hurdles. Regarding Japan, though, the impressions are quite different. Makoto Misono, a professor in the department of synthetic chemistry at the University of Tokyo, emphasized to the Pittsburgh meeting the vital nature of catalysis to the Japanese, who have few natural resources and must import almost everything. Misono also noted that in Japan there has recently been a decline in the sense of national mission on the part of younger people. To counter this trend, a new emphasis now is being placed on science and technology as well as education. Much of the education and associated research in Japan is applications oriented. Environmental issues are of special concern because of the small land area and dense population. Hence, the employment of catalysis in coping with environmental stress receives high priority in Japan. Although the Japanese chemical industry is very competitive in world markets, products are tuned to the needs of the domestic market. Despite the extensive export program, domestic considerations really dominate opera-
Misono: catalysis vital to Japanese
tions of the companies, most of which are of moderate size. As a result, professional contacts between chemists and engineers are close and, usually, cordial. The close relations extend to those government and industrial funding organizations that sponsor research. One of the peculiarities of the Japanese chemical industry, says Misono, is a close formal relationship with the electronics and automobile industries, which sometimes amounts to an economic dependency. According to Misono, Japanese catalytic technology is very strong in the "midstream" and environmental areas—that is, in applications. It is admittedly weak in basic research, due in large measure to the structure of the universities and their place in Japanese society. Roth: industrial catalysis strategy needed The chemical industry and the universities recruited the best students of the 1960s when catalysis was a zeolites, bimetallic catalysts, super acpopular subject for research. Catalysis ids and bases, heteropoly catalysts, solremains an active area, but it is much id acids and bases, and perovskite. A fourth trend is a move toward harder, now, to get research funding. Thus, interest in catalysis has waned highly specific catalysts for the manuamong students. Despite the problems, facture of drugs and other high-value Misono claims that catalysis retains its chemicals and for catalysts that sense inherent importance for the Japanese, and convert atmospheric pollutants. And a fifth trend is utilization of and the chemical community there is trying to reemphasize this importance some new high-tech catalysts in totally new areas of commercial interest. for the national good. Misono notes that the trends and In Misono's view, five definable trends prevail in Japanese catalysis R&D. First, problems of Japan are familiar ones to he says, is improvement in the existing most chemists from other countries. He chemical processes ôf industry. Most of leaves no doubt that catalysis is seen as the processes are well established, and a key technology for efficient converconsequently most improvements being sion of materials and chemical energy. made are incremental. What is needed, In many ways, these two areas constiMisono says, are substantially new and tute the essence of industrial chemistry different catalysts that would provide in the immediate future, Misono says, and he is convinced that global energy truly new technology. Second is an emphasis on new feed- and materials systems will have to stocks and reaction schemes for them. change, with catalysis playing a crucial Some examples are production of meth- role. Catalysis sometimes produces drayl methacrylate from isobutene and of cyclohexane from benzene and the con- matic effects, and Misono thinks this version of benzene to phenol. The em- presents a good opportunity to demonphasis on new feedstocks stems from the strate the importance of catalysis to a necessity to insulate the chemical indus- public that often seems apathetic to the try from the effects of another oil shock. problems of science and industry. For Special interest is being given to natural example, one of the more demanding areas of application for catalysis is envigas as a feedstock. The third trend is a developing inter- ronmental control. Temperature ranges est in new catalyst materials. Although involved are very wide (0 to 1000 °C), established catalysts have proven their space velocities are high (sometimes worth, new ones are desperately need- greater than 100,000 changes in volume ed, especially in the environmental per hr), very low concentrations of polarea. Examples might be greater use of lutants (in the parts per million or billion MAY 31,1993 C&EN
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ranges) coexist with very high concentrations of other components, and reaction conditions fluctuate widely. For catalysts to work in these conditions is a great challenge indeed. Misono is optimistic about another characteristic of catalysis R&D—namely, the growing international cooperation among chemists. Because environmental concerns are global in character, such cooperation prompts faster utilization of new discoveries and intensifies international cooperation. To Misono, this feature of catalysis R&D alone may be the greatest and may become the "catalyst" for a new renaissance in catalytic technology. The economics of the 1990s have affected Europe, Japan, and North America in different ways, although the problems of catalysis are quite similar. The impression sometimes arises in the U.S. that the country lags both Europe and Japan in responding to technological and scientific challenges. The solutions that have already been instituted in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in Japan, are often suggested for emulation by the U.S. Such suggestions may sometimes be warranted, but in many areas the U.S. is still leading the pack. At the Pittsburgh meeting, several U.S. representatives described this nation's efforts in catalysis. Although some major organization and funding problems still exist, they noted, considerable progress has been made. To chemical engineering professor Alexis T. Bell of the University of California, Berkeley, one of the major problems for U.S. catalysis is that of fostering greater cooperation among industry, academia, and government. The call for such cooperation is at least 15 years old and, among other things, was one of the factors leading to the establishment of the Council for Chemical Research, which is directly concerned with promoting interactions among these three groups. The National Research Council (NRC) has published several reports advocating closer ties between industry and academia. In addition, the Pimentel Report of a decade ago, the more recent Frontiers in Chemical Engineering report, and a 1992 NRC report that was specific to catalysis all emphasized the importance of industrial-academic cooperation in the national interest. Whether the reports have had the impact desired is debatable, but profes26
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sional opinion has been expressed in very certain terms. Bell regards motivation for cooperation as essential to success. The key is to define reasonable goals and expectations for cooperation. The greatest success, he says, comes when industrialacademic relations can be cultivated for longer periods, usually in increments of five years. Motivation of industry is becoming harder to develop, Bell suggests. For one reason, it is more difficult than ever for industry in the U.S. to carry out fundamental research because of numerous economic constraints. Proposed research may be pertinent to a company's longterm needs but transcends the immediate need of a particular product or process. Such research is therefore hard to sell to a management under pressure to produce profits. For academia, a strong motivation above the obvious one of economic support is a chance to learn firsthand the needs of industry and possibly to develop a sustaining market for students and further research. Interactions between industry and academia, Bell says, will probably continue to follow established norms. These include sabbaticals between the two, consulting contracts, joint research projects where possible, and direct unrestricted funding by industry. Both partners in such cooperation have constraints that must be recognized but often are not, he notes. The principal
McGee: NSF aware of funding problems
function of academic institutions is to educate young people and to conduct research of significance. Academic leaders are looking for problems with high intellectual content that advance the frontiers of knowledge, and that are of sufficiently long term to attract graduate students. Industry is more immediate in its outlook and is usually looking for specific answers to specific problems for competitive reasons. Overcoming these constraints is mostly a matter of a positive attitude, Bell says. In many instances in the past, he adds, cooperation has been close and fruitful, and there is no reason for it not to remain so. Probably the member of the industry-academia-government triumvirate least heard from is government, specifically the National Science Foundation. Henry A. McGee Jr., director of NSF's ( Division of Chemical & Thermal Systems, which is a part of the Directorate of Engineering, explained in Pittsburgh that his division is the principal focus for funding of catalysis research by NSF. Some additional support by NSF for catalysis research comes from the Chemistry Division. The entire NSF budget for the current fiscal year is about $2.7 billion, of which about 10% is spent on engineering research. About $35 million will be disbursed by the Chemical & Thermal Systems Division, along with more than $110 million by the Chemistry Division. Total support for catalysis from all of this comes to about $1 million, which is spread among about a dozen grants. McGee's division, and NSF more broadly, are aware of the problems catalysis- researchers have in securing research funding. The foundation has been conducting planning exercises, including deliberations by the Commission on the Future of NSF (C&EN, Sept. 21, 1992, page 16). The commission has issued a report, and many of the recommendations are strikingly similar to those already mentioned in connection with Europe and Japan. McGee cites four major recommendations from the commission's report. First—noting the public's increasing expectations for the results of this research—is greater integration of science and engineering research into society. Second is greater support for research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and links science and technology. Third is the encouragement of partnerships, es-
Ten challenges for catalysis Many unsolved problems face the catalysis research community, says James F. Roth, retired corporate chief scientist at Air Products & Chemicals. He has selected 10 challenges that typify the present needs of industrial catalysis: A new catalyst for low-temperature oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide in the manufacture of sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is the largest volume chemical made in the U.S., and the production process has had only incremental improvements througout many years. What is needed is not another incremental improvement but a substantially different way of making the acid. An oxidation catalyst for selective oxidation of methane to methanol. There is no such catalyst at present. Most of the research in this pecially among industry and government agencies in strategic research areas, and fourth is the integration of science and technology into educational curricula at all levels for all students. NSF makes distinctions among strategic research, curiosity-driven research, applied research, and similar terms. Some of these terms are nebulous at best, but McGee is very definite about NSF's not becoming a mission-oriented agency. Strategic research is definitely not applied research, he says. McGee sees NSF as continuing to fund only long-range basic research, seeking projects that relate to issues of industrial competitiveness, quality of life, and environmental concerns. Of considerable interest to the catalysis symposium was the NSF-industry cooperative program in environmentally benign chemical synthesis and processing. The basic idea of the program is to design and operate processes that minimize or do away with pollution at the source of manufacture, thereby eliminating the need for environmental cleanup downstream. The NSF initiatives were applauded at the catalysis meeting by James F. Roth, retired corporate chief scientist at Air Products & Chemicals. Roth believes U.S. catalysis research has been in decline for the past 15 years. Furthermore, he adds, there is no coherent strategy for the next generation of industrial catalysis in the U.S.
area focuses on high-temperature oxidation catalysts. A low-temperature, liquid-phase catalyst would be very desirable. A new catalyst for the facile decomposition of nitrogen oxides to molecular nitrogen and oxygen in the presence of water and carbon dioxide. This would be a great advance in environmental protection. p A high-conversion, high-selectivity catalyst for production of ethylene, propylene, and styrene from their respective alkanes. Ethylene is the industry's most important feedstock, with about 40% of all organic chemicals production based on it. The usual method is isothermal cracking, which generates many byproducts and is both capital- and energy-intensive. > A selective catalyst for oxidative Such planning was not needed in the past, Roth says, but it is now. Catalysis has become a priority endeavor in most developed countries and it should be for the U.S. as well. Roth proposes that a U.S. national institute of catalysis be established to direct the future progress of U.S. catalysis. Such a proposal has been made in the past but has never been acted upon. Roth believes, however, that the time is ripe to revive the idea. The longpreeminent position of the U.S. in catalysis is being challenged, he says, and the U.S. must respond with a concerted effort that includes industry, academia, government, and an appreciative, taxpaying public. Roth's scenario for the proposed catalysis institute would include a national organization to oversee a national catalysis program aimed at high-priority needs and opportunities. The institute would not be a regional or local center but would be structured to fund research anywhere in the U.S. Industry would take the lead in describing and ranking the major needs of the program. Under this scenario, a multiagency research fund would support directed basic research in universities aimed at beefing up the intellectual underpinnings of the discipline. The funds would be administered by the institute. Industry would contribute to the funds and would share in nonexclusive rights
coupling of methanol to ethylene. This would shift the feedstock base from ethylene to methanol. A selective catalyst for producing phenol by direct oxidation of benzene using molecular oxygen rather than the present cumenebased process. Catalysts for the selective, direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen under mild conditions. Low-temperature selective oxidation catalysts for the epoxidation of ethylene by molecular oxygen. Synthesis of aromatic amines via the direct interaction of aromatics with ammonia. Anti-Markovnikov addition of water or ammonia to olefins to directly synthesize primary alcohols or amines. to any patents generated. Proposals for funding would be jointly reviewed by groups from all contributing sectors of the economy. These ideas resemble to some extent the approach of the European countries, but Roth has no desire to emulate them. It is simply a matter of recognizing an idea whose time has come, he says. There are more than enough challenges for the catalysis community to solve, he adds. A nagging question for most of the participants in the seminars was why catalysis has had so much difficulty in being recognized? One person suggested it might be because catalysis somewhat resembles thermodynamics or heat transfer in that it is common to many well-defined disciplines but distinct from them all. Another observer from the Department of Energy volunteered the opinion that this is why physicists sometimes have an easier time getting research money—that is, their projects are well defined, have great public appeal, and often are involved in establishing physical facilities that improve local payrolls. He noted that it is a lot easier to get money for supercolliders than for heat-transfer research, although the latter is as desperately needed as research in catalysis. The basic problem is that heat transfer and catalysis by their nature are not well identified in the minds of the public and of politicians. • MAY 31,1993 C&EN
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