A Chemist with a Mission: The Chemical Industry Must Become Much More Sustainable
The chemical industry cannot continue to overconsume energy and produce polluting waste, says Changzhu Wu, who has dedicated his research career to developing more sustainable chemistry by using enzymes and whole cells to produce chemicals.
Detergent, fertilizer, plastic, ink, soap—the chemical industry produces many products that most of us would not want to live without. We don’t have to give them up, research leader Changzhu Wu reassures us, but the chemical industry needs to become more sustainable:
- The chemical industry is a massive sector that pollutes in many different ways. We need to change that. We must develop sustainable production methods that will still be useful in the next centuries. Chemists can play a key role in that.
Wu is a chemist himself and also an associate professor and research leader at the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Pharmacy.
According to Wu, key problems in the chemical industry are high energy consumption, extensive use of solvents and large output of polluting waste.
Changzhu Wu Bio
Changzhu Wu is an associate professor and research leader at the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Pharmacy. Before joining 糖果派对 in 2018, he spent nine years conducting research in Germany. During his time at 糖果派对, he has published 42 scientific articles (including in Nature Catalysis, Nature Communications, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition), being corresponding author on 35 of them.
As a research leader, he has received a total of 鈧�3.9 million in funding from organizations such as the Carlsberg Foundation, the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
Wu is on X here: @wu_lab_糖果派对
More robust bacteria
Many chemical reactions in factories worldwide are carried out by bacteria. For example, bacteria produce insulin, growth hormones, and antibiotics. They also produce biodegradable polymer for plastic production and lysine for animal feed.
One major advantage of using bacteria in chemical production is that they do not generate harmful byproducts, which is beneficial for both the environment and human health. However, a major downside is that bacteria are often exposed to extreme conditions鈥攕uch as high temperatures and shear forces 鈥攖hat quickly wear them out and cause them to die.
- If we could make bacteria more robust, more of them would survive for a longer time, and fewer would be lost to these harsh conditions. Together, this would give us a more efficient and more sustainable production of chemical substances in bacteria, Wu explains.
His work on robust bacteria has resulted in scientific articles published in prestigious journals like Nature Catalysis, Nature Communications, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
鈥�Our goal is to contribute to a zero-pollution and sustainable society聽
At the core of Wu鈥檚 efforts to making bacteria more robust is his work with strengthening the cell surface of the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli)鈥� a workhorse bacterium in the industry.
This could be achieved by covering each bacterial cell鈥檚 surface with a protective layer. In the lab, Wu has demonstrated that this can be done by integrating a reinforcing polymer layer into the bacterial cell membrane or by coating the cell surface with tiny dopamine particles.
- In my group, we are interested in how whole cells or enzymes can be engineered by chemistry approaches to improve their stability and reaction scope. Our goal is, that they will be useful for future industries, contributing to a zero-pollution and sustainable society, he says.