Research lines
The Institute of Chemical Technology focuses its research activity in four main areas: energy, sustainability, health and water. These are very wide areas but one of the characteristics of ITQ is its capability to direct its research effort to solve actual problems that the society is interested on or worried about.
Catalysts are used in almost 90% of chemical processes, which can give an idea of the importance of catalysis in chemistry. At the ITQ, catalysis is applied mainly in crude oil refinement and petrochemistry, but also in biomass transformation and chemical processes to obtain drugs and fragrances and design of materials for controlled drug or semiotics delivery. It also develops materials like conductor polymers, electroluminescent polymers and sensors.
In addition, the ITQ works on chemical and photochemical reactivity to develop more selective processes to the desired product and to minimize the formation of byproducts. This is mainly achieved by: using catalysts that make it possible to select the reaction pathway or through photochemical activation