alCHEMISTS

Chemists at Princeton are taking an approach to chemistry that seems a little similar to the age old art of Alchemy. No, they are not turning lead to gold, but they are using iron instead of platinum for the same catalytic processes. 

Catalysts, such as platinum, are used in reactions to speed them up without loosing any of the catalyst in the process; unfortunately this is not always the case. As the reaction occurs trace amounts of the catalyst are lost, which is problematic for a chemical as rare as platinum, as its price is very high. Thus, recently, synthetic forms of the catalyst have been produced by using iron. Iron is much less precious than platinum and loosing iron in a reaction is not as cost worthy. This "synthetic form of Platinum" may result in the discovery of new types catalysts that work even better than ones that are being used today and might also cost less. This process of using cheaper catalysts could help companies all over stay away from the scarce elements. Beer, denim, fuel cells, makeup, pharmaceuticals, cookware, glue and many other products all currently use rare transition materials in manufacturing. So if cheaper metal catalysts could be mass produced, they would have an instant and direct impact on the market.

Here is a picture of the platinum and iron catalyst developed by Princeton University Professor Paul Chirik:

As you can see, the bottom catalyst only requires one iron molecule, while the above catalyst requires two platinum molecules. The iron catalyst presents a combination of economy, beauty, and effectiveness that cannot be beaten by the platinum catalyst. Thus, the price reduction begins at the molecular level, which brings up an interesting connection between chemistry and the economy--every single atom and molecule can be thought of as money spent, and if the structure of the molecule is not as efficient and parsimonious as possible, the greater money spent.