Researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an innovative, environment-friendly processes to make adiponitrile (ADN)—the main precursor to nylon 6,6— to greatly improve the efficiency of organic electrosynthesis.
Miguel Modestino, a Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at New York University, and doctoral student Daniela Blanco tweaked how electrical current is delivered to catalytic electrodes and then applied artificial intelligence (AI) to further optimise the reaction. By doing so they achieved a 30 per cent improvement in ADN production
The findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could have major implications since the team targets one of the largest organic electrosynthesis processes in the chemical industry: the electrohydrodimerisation of acrylonitrile (AN) to ADN.
