Faculty Researchers
Sustainability is based on a simple principle: everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations. Biomass offers the most readily implementable solution to access non-petroleum organic molecules for the manufacture of bulk, fine and specialty chemicals, polymers and transportation fuels. Green chemistry provides a set of principles that, when put into practice, will lead toward sustainable development of the chemical industry. For example minimizing the generation and use of toxic chemicals while simultaneously maintaining function and efficacy, may be one of the most challenging aspects of designing safer products and processes. Achieving this goal requires an understanding of not only chemistry but also of the principles of toxicology and environmental science. A promising tool for the development of green processes is the use of biotechnology to create safe, efficient and selective enzymes to replace harsh catalysts used in chemical conversions. Researchers in the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department at RPI are pioneering new sustainable green chemical routes. Examples include substituting harsh chemical processes by low energy, safe and selective biocatalytic reactions to synthesize chemicals and materials; developing enzymes that can degrade synthetic plastics to valuable building blocks and synthesizing safe/biodegradable surfactants. In addition, RPI researchers are creating innovative ion conducting polymer electrolytes for use in next generation energy conversion and storage technologies such as fuel cells as well as functional polymers that can play a crucial role in energy efficient separation process.
