BASF Formaldpure™ Catalyst receives 2022 Edison Patent Award
BASF reported this week (Nov 3) that the prestigious Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award 2022 has been awarded to its researchers in the USA, Germany, and China for their work on the Formaldpure™ Catalyst which converts formaldehyde into carbon dioxide and water. The technology is employed for removing indoor pollutants at room temperature.
The award was made by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and presented at a ceremony held on November 3, 2022, to David Weinberger, Wolfgang Ruettinger, Pascaline Tran, Laif Alden, Ting Gu, Anju Shi, Nils Lawrenz and Lukas Wengeler who work at BASF’s sites in Iselin, New Jersey, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, as well as Shanghai, China.
Indoor formaldehyde levels which arise from degassing of furniture, coatings, insulation, and other household items is a source of concern for human health. The Formaldpure™ technology consists of a catalyst supported on a thin and flexible foam substrate which can easily be fitted into indoor air purifiers by customers in commercial and residential settings. It works at temperatures up to 90˚C, 0-90% humidity and 6-50 Pa. The structure of the catalyst and typical performance is shown in Figure.1 below1.
Patents assigned to BASF which appear to relate to this technology include a granted US patent which discloses a catalyst preparation route in Example 1 as follows:
“73.4 g of Ceria and 73.4 g of Cryptomelane (potassium manganese oxide) are dispersed in 191 g of water, and a solution of 4.8 g alumina sol (Dispal P3) and 4.8 g acetic acid in 16.8 g water is added to the resulting slurry. A solution of cellulose base thickener (0.2 g) is added to the slurry with vigorous mixing. This slurry is used to coat ceramic monolithic substrates (cordierite; 400 cells per square inch). Afterwards the coated monolith is dried at 120° C. for 2 h and calcined at 250° C. for 1 h. The coating is repeated until the weight gain of the monolithic substrate is 2 g/in3”.2
This preparation route gave a catalyst which maintained over 80% formaldehyde conversion efficiency for up to 4.5 g of cumulative formaldehyde and reduced the formaldehyde concentrations down from about 1100 ppb to 200 ppb, a clean air delivery rate (CADR) 2-3 times better than comparative examples in the patent.
- BASF. (2022, June 9). Formaldpure F Produt Sheet. Retrieved from BASF: file:///C:/Users/Michelle/Desktop/EFL%20New/EFL%20Patent%20Spotlights/BASF_10701_Formaldpure_Datasheet_A4_Rev.06_2022.pdf
- Ruettinger, W., Laif, A., Pascaline, R., Weinberger, D., Anju, S., & Feng, Z. (2022, January 11). US11219882B2. Catalyst device for treatment of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds.