Despite the war, the project team continues to work
The key to victory and post-war recovery of the country is the energy security of the state. The pillars of this security, according to the researchers from L.V. Pisarzhevskiy Institute of Physical Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, should be new sources of energy, first of all, hydrogen and methanol. For the hydrogen energy of the future researchers are developing catalysts for the conversion of methanol into hydrogen. Their project ‘Design and development of zeolite- and nanocarbon-containing catalysts with improved mass transfer for modern energy based on hydrogen and methanol’ was successful in the call ‘Support for Research of Leading and Young Scientist’s of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine and had been receiving grant funding until February 24, 2022.
What are these catalysts? What did researchers manage to do before the war? Is the project team safe today? We asked these questions to the project PI, Head of one of departments of the Institute, and corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Petro Stryzhak.
Prof. Stryzhak said that almost all modern technologies are ‘tied’ to the use of carbon raw materials. Thanks to the use of carbon-containing compounds we get electricity, motor fuel, metals, fertilizers, etc. Unfortunately, the use of carbon can lead to adverse environmental consequences on a global scale. That is why the developed countries of the world are evolving hydrogen technologies, and the best research teams are looking for technological solutions for hydrogen energy. One of the directions of research is, in particular, the development of new catalysts.
“A catalyst for a chemical process is as important as a heart for a person,” explained the researcher. “It accelerates the chemical process and directs it in the right way.”
Petro Stryzhak said that the project which was awarded grant funding has several tasks. Researchers set a goal to develop catalysts and find a way to transport hydrogen. This gas is highly explosive, it is impossible to transport it over long distances. Therefore, researchers think that hydrogen should be ‘transformed’ into a certain compound (preferably liquid) which can be transported through pipelines, and then ‘decomposed’ into the original compound and hydrogen.
The researchers of the institute decided to develop catalysts for obtaining and transporting hydrogen based on carbon nanomaterials. Several years ago they found out that carbon materials can catalyze the same processes as noble metals. But platinum and palladium which are used in most catalysts in the world today are expensive, while carbon materials are affordable.
“In addition, we decided to investigate the phenomenon of anomalous diffusion,” the researcher continued. “This knowledge is needed to speed up the industrial heterogeneous catalytic process. After all, the more effective the catalyst is, the less capital investment is needed to build a plant. Accordingly, its products will be cheaper.”
Before the start of the war, the members of the project team developed several catalysts with sufficiently high efficiency. And over the past six months, they have created a catalyst the efficiency of which is only ten times lower than that of catalysts based on noble metals.
“A significant drawback of catalysts based on noble materials is their short life span,” the researcher added. “But our carbon catalyst can work for a very long time. This increases efficiency of the chemical process because there is no need to stop production and replace the substance”.
Researchers have also developed new effective catalysts for processing methanol into hydrocarbons (into critically important motor fuel) and valuable chemical products. They proved that they can effectively regulate the catalytic process and make accelerate it.
Before the start of the full-scale russian invasion, the project team had published more than ten articles (most of them in Q1 and Q2 journals). Expensive equipment had also been purchased.
“I want to thank the NRFU for the opportunity to purchase the equipment,” emphasized Petro Stryzhak. “We would not have received these funds from other sources. Thanks to the project we have, for example, a new chromatograph, a special reactor for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes under high pressure, etc.”
… From the first day of the war, the work of the research institution was transferred to ‘military rails’. The institute organized round-the-clock duty, checked the condition of the bomb shelter, and opened its doors to the district community. In March-April, residents of neighboring buildings lived in a small but very reliable shelter that can withstand even a nuclear attack.
In the first month of the war, researchers worked remotely, and in April, when the enemy was pushed back from the capital, the project team resumed experimental research.
“Employees of several research institutions participate in the project. When the war started, we understood that the grant funding would be transferred to defense (and it was). But I turned to the team members and offered to continue the work,” said the project PI. “All team members supported this decision.”
Unfortunately, the war affected all members of the project team (most of whom are early-career researchers). One of them, a resident of Borodyanka, lost his home, and the family of another was evacuating from Bucha from under occupation… The researcher, who lives in the Brovary district, had to leave her home as well – russian tanks came to her settlement in March.
But, despite everything, researchers continue their work.
“Our ‘front line’ is doing research,” added Petro Stryzhak. “We are actively working and that’s how we are getting closer to victory.”
Svitlana GALATA
