Chemicals play a role in many aspects of modern-day life. However, the current chemical manufacturing process needed to create things like paint, medicine and consumer goods contributes to climate change. That is why Colorado State University is leading a multi-institution research effort to pioneer ways to make these needed products through a process inspired instead by the natural chemical reactions that happen in plants.

The National Science Foundation awarded faculty from the Department of Chemistry a three-year, $1.8 million grant to launch the Center for Sustainable Photoredox Catalysis (SuPRCaT) in the summer of 2023. The interdisciplinary center will design chemical manufacturing processes that harness light energy and utilize readily available materials as catalysts. Professor Garret Miyake will serve as the director for the project and will lead a multidisciplinary team of researchers from CSU, the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Northern Colorado, Northeastern University, Metropolitan State University Denver, The Ohio State University and local startup New Iridium on the project. Learn more about the center and the university’s history of research excellence around sustainability and climate change.