UW chemistry professor wins award for green research

University of Wisconsin chemistry professor Shannon Stahl recently received a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his research involving using oxygen in chemical reactions.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency awarded five scientists across the nation with this award.

The most satisfying part of this award was its recognition of the potential impact of [the chemistry of oxygen] on green chemistry in the real world, Stahl said.

Stahls group at UW focuses on catalysis, which is a way of facilitating and enhancing rates of chemical reactions. The recognized research focused mainly on controlling the chemistry of oxygen, Stahl said.

Stahl said oxygen in the air combusts while interacting with organic molecules, which can include people and other organic forms of matter, which explains why bonfires are possible this time of year.

What were trying to do is essentially use oxygen as a green chemical reagent and by using catalysts, you can do so selectively to make useful products like pharmaceuticals for example soda bottles are made using oxygen building blocks, Stahl said.

Stahl said his goal was to figure out how to control oxygen so when it combines with other molecules, it does not just combust. Rather than just getting carbon dioxide, he wanted to get something useful.

Thatcher Root, an engineering professor at UW, was involved with the research Stahl was awarded for.

Im interested in running the reactions in a flow reactor, and I brought a couple of chemical engineering grad students in to join the team, Root said.

Root said the recognition is exciting, and the larger green chemistry community is enthusiastic as well.

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UW chemistry professor wins award for green research