This topic emerged through a screening of emerging issues in science, technology and society in the context of the FET CSA OBSERVE.

http://www.horizon-observatory.eu/radar-en/index.php

The big picture

Already in 1998 scientists developed 12 principles of “green chemistry” underpinning more environmentally benign chemical processes with e.g. less waste, higher efficiency and toxicity to human health and the environment. Several findings of the OBSERVE analysis relate to these principles indicating that this domain is still a highly active and future relevant domain for research and innovation with room for disruptive and foundational approaches.

Source: American Chemical Society

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/greenchemistry/what-is-green-chemistry/principles/12-principles-of-green-chemistry.html

The following aspects of OBSERVE findings relate to this domain:

Emerging research front: Metal organic materials with optimal adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics for CO2 separation

The energy costs associated with the separation and purification of industrial commodi-ties, such as gases, fine chemicals and fresh water, currently represent around 15 per cent of global energy production, and the demand for such commodities is projected to triple by 2050. The challenge of developing effective separation and purification technologies that have much smaller energy footprints is greater for carbon dioxide (CO2) than for other gases; Papers in this emerging research front investigate the optimization of metal organic materials for this purpose. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;

Emerging research front: Magnetically retrievable nanocatalysts

The concept of ‘‘Green Chemistry’’ has emerged as one of the guiding principles of environmentally benign synthesis. The preparation and the use of nanoparticles (NPs) in organic synthesis has become a subject of intense investigation, in particular, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) which offer advantages in clean and sustainable chemistry as they can be non-toxic, readily accessible, and retrievable. Additionally, the activity and selectivity of magnetic nano-catalysts can be manipulated by their surface modification. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014

Research front: Functional metal organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are one type of solid porous materials formed by the self assembly of metal ions or ion clusters and organic ligand complexes. MOFs  have the merits of a rich composition and structure, a large specific surface area, adjustable pore sizes, and a modifiable skeleton. MOFs have been widely applied to multiple as-pects of absorption and separation, hydrogen storage, chemical sensors, fluorescence, catalysis, and biological medicine. Currently, more than 6,000 new structures are re-ported every year. MOFs have become a hot research front in the field of chemistry. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;

Emerging research front: Synthesis of copolymers by direct arylation polycondensation

Copolymers are promising as basis for organic semiconductors with favourable characteristics e.g. for solar cells light-emitting diodes and transistors, sensors, and displays. Direct arylation represents an economically attractive and ecologically benign alternative to the traditional methodologies for synthesizing these polymers. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;

Emerging research front: Enhanced Visible Light photocatalysts

Photocatalysis is a science of employing catalyst that is utilized for speeding up a chemical reaction that requires or engages light. A photocatalyst is defined as a material that is capable of absorbing light, producing electron–hole pairs that enable chemical transformations of the reaction participants and regenerate its chemical composition after each cycle of such interactions. Papers in this field investigate ways to enhance photocatalysts that work in visible light. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;

Research front: Synthesis of pillar [5/6] arenes & their host guest chemistry

Pillar[n]arenes are a fast-growing research topic in supramolecular chemistry. Originally the focus was predominantly on pillar[5]arenes; however, now more and more studies on pillar[6]arenes are being performed. According to Wikipedia Pillar[n]arenes have been shown to have potential applications in molecular machinery, sensing, nanoparticle synthesis, artificial transmembrane channels, controlled drug delivery, construction of porous materials for gas/guest absorption, organic light-emitting materials, and ionic liquids. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;

Emerging research front: Photoinitiated polymerization and Photoinitiators

Much progress has been made in the past 10 years in the preparation of complex and nano-structured macromolecules by using photoinitiated polymerizations. A number of applications emerge in the field of biomaterials, surface modification, preparation of block and graft copolymers, and nanocomposites. Source: Thomson Reuters Research Fronts 2014;