An analysis of over 90,000 research papers has disclosed a new perception into how priorities in platform chemicals research is transforming. The study detect 62 distinct topics and observed how those advanced over the time in specific regions of the world. It highlighted unique trends, including how ammonia and methanol manufacturing has moved from targeting on efficiency to new synthetic routes, at the same time as olefins and aromatics have endured less change. It also emphasized geographic differences, with researchers in China bending into photo- and electrocatalytic techniques more than Europe and US.
Olefins, ammonia, aromatics and methanol clarify for most of the chemical sector’s carbon footprint. These platform chemicals are constructing blocks for numerous new materials and are the target of efforts to move faraway from petrochemical resources and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Nonetheless, with tens of thousands of papers posted in this field, it’s tough to see the general picture or where research communities across the world are focusing their efforts. To manage this, Bjarne Steffen at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and his colleagues integrated topic modelling, generative AI and human expertise to examine more than 90,000 research.
‘Much research is going on, particularly in our Swiss National Competence Center of Research NCCR CATALYSIS, but with thousands of papers it isn’t very clear which direction benefits momentum,’ says Steffen. ‘We needed to offer a clear, quantitative picture of where global research community is targeting its efforts. This supports avoid blind spots and permits evidence-based policy choices.’
Steffen’s team carried out several iterations of a 4-step process to collect and analyze the literature on platform chemicals. They started by planning the research, then used topic forming to group papers into categories. Generative AI supported label these topics and organize them for relevance. Ultimately, the team analyzed the data.
The study discovered some interesting and amazing trends– together with what Steffen defined as a ‘dramatic boost in research on ammonia and methanol’. Ammonia-associated research papers have grown through a factor of 17 since the year 2000. In fact, research on sustainable platform chemicals has grown quicker than scientific research altogether.
The group also determined differences in priorities across the world, with work in China highlighting more unstable photograph- and electrochemical-primarily based manufacturing of platform chemicals, at the same time as Europe and the US looked more to techno-economic assessments.
As aromatics research gradually more explores options feedstocks, the study recommends prioritizing the development of advanced catalysts, particular systems which could activate unconventional nitrogen and hydrogen sources.
The team hope that the observation in this work will support to guides future research and policies associated to sustainable platform chemicals, and note that the approach they have evolved here could benefit ‘any field with field with massive publication volumes and diverse technology pathways’.
