Innovations

Chlor-alkali chemistry is helping to shape the future via the development of new innovative materials that will provide solutions for future challenges, support economic growth and deliver social benefits.

As the global population grows, increasing pressure on resources will lead to challenges for society. Here, chlor-alkali will be essential in helping future generations. These include:

  • Super-conducting titanium dioxide nanofibers for use in air-purification and solar cells. Titanium dioxide is also being used in augmented and virtual-reality devices and is purified using chlorine chemistry;
  • Caustic soda can be used to harvest bioethanol from algae, recover phosphates (valuable crop nutrients) from household wastewater and to recycle (semi-) precious metals from old electronics;
  • Combining chlorine and UV radiation to help purify and reuse wastewater in water-deprived areas;
  • Novel cancer-treatment drugs based on cisplatin (a chlorine-containing medicine) have shown promise in the fight against testicular cancer;
  • Concentrated caustic soda could be used to efficiently store heat in our homes for later release when it gets cold at night;
  • Hydrogen, a valuable co-product of chlor-alkali production, could be used to power our communities or energise buses to take us to school or work.

As we learn more about potential future applications, we will share this with you on this site.