Researchers at Brown and Yale Universities have demonstrated a new “enabling technology” that could use excess carbon dioxide to produce acrylate, a valuable commodity chemical involved in the manufacture of everything from polyester cloth to disposable diapers. Chemical companies produce billions of tons of acrylate each year, usually by heating propylene, a compound derived from crude oil. “What we’re interested in is enhancing both the economics and the sustainability of how acrylate is made,” said the lead researcher Wesley Bernskoetter from Brown University. “Right now, everything that goes into making it is from relatively expensive, nonrenewable carbon sources.” Since the… Login to continue

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