Vacuum and pressured combinatorial processings for exploration of environmental catalysts

Two types of combinatorial chemical reactors have been developed for high-throughput experimentation of catalysts that attract much interest from global environmental viewpoints. The high vacuum combinatorial laser MBE system was applied to the preparation of thin film library of TiO₂ with its film thickness gradually increased, which resulted in the discovery of new phenomenon indicating a quantum size effect in TiO₂ photo-catalysis. The combinatorial autoclave reactor was made to explore new catalysts and optimum reaction conditions efficiently for alternating CO₂ copolymerization with epoxide (oxirane) to form bio-degradable polycarbonates. Some preliminary results are reported on the CO₂ copolymerization with propylene oxide, as a means of CO₂ fixation into chemically useful material.