Molecular Horizons Seminar – Dr Davin Tan

Climate change has become a major global problem. Within the months of August to September 2022, the world experienced five major storms with devastating aftermaths, all attributed to global climate change. In commitment to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26 agreements, many governments have created their own net-zero targets to reduce carbon emissions. To achieve these targets, one of the key strategies is to embrace sustainability, by reducing the amount of energy required and waste generated during reactions and manufacturing. As chemists and researchers, we need to be more conscientious of the environmental footprint of our research, especially the amount of liquid waste that is generated in our laboratories, which can be significant when translating reactions to multi-gram or kilogram scales. These solvent wastes are typically transported to an incineration facility to be burnt, which produces CO2 and other toxic gas. Mechanochemistry is poised to address this problem, as solid-state mechanochemical methodologies typically consume less energy and produce less waste than their conventional solution-based counterparts. In this talk, I will highlight some of the recent advancements in this field, as well as my research interests involving the use of mechanochemistry to create valuable molecules and materials.