While the development of industrial chemical processes was indeed revolutionary in the early 20th century, it does come with some disadvantages. The chemical industry is the third largest industry causing greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it is also the largest consumer of energy among the industrial subsectors. 

For decades, experts have been looking into more sustainable practices that could improve these processes. Now, researchers say that liquid metals might be the answer to this issue. In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers from the University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering report that liquid metals can be used as catalysts that consume much less energy compared to traditional solid catalysts.

What are catalysts?

Chemical process industries use catalysts to speed up reactions carried out in the production of chemicals. That is their primary purpose and they do not react with the raw materials, so they do not necessarily affect the final product. 

For example, in the textile industry, copper-based catalysts are used during the production of nylon. They help improve the efficiency of the reaction and contribute to the production of high-quality nylon fibers for various applications.

However, current processes that make use of solid transition metals require high temperatures of up to 1000°C (1832°F), and therefore also require large amounts of energy.

Liquid Metals and Their “Unparalleled Possibility” 

In the study, researchers looked into using liquid metals instead. They dissolved nickel in gallium, which gave them access to liquid nickel at low temperatures. One of the researchers Dr Junma Tang called it a “supercatalyst” for this reason. 

The result also showed that at this state, liquid nickel had unique mobility. In their experiment, it reacted with input molecules like canola oil, and resulted in the rotation, fragmentation, and reassembly of the oil molecules into smaller organic chains, including propylene, which is a high-energy fuel used in different industries.

University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Head and lead researcher Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh explained how urgently important this move is.

“Our method offers an unparalleled possibility to the chemical industry for reducing energy consumption and greening chemical reactions. It’s expected that the chemical sector will account for more than 20 percent of emissions by 2050,” he said in a press release. “But chemical manufacturing is much less visible than other sectors – a paradigm shift is vital.”