评论
打印
In our research, we started by looking at a chemical reaction that is used to make one of the most important polymers in the world: Nylon 66.
研究过程中，我们首先聚焦于一种化学反应，这种化学反应用于制造世界上最重要的聚合物之一：尼龙66。
More than 5 million tons of all kinds of nylons are produced every year.
每年，各类尼龙的生产超过500万吨。
And out of those, two million tons are of Nylon 66.
其中，有200万吨是尼龙66。
And these are used to make things like the textile fibers that we use in our winter jackets or the plastic car parts that help make our vehicles lightweight and fuel-efficient.
这些材料可以制造很多东西，例如冬季夹克中的纺织纤维，或者能让我们的汽车变得更轻、更省油的塑料汽车部件。
Through our research, we managed to identify electrochemical reaction mixtures with the right additives and voltages to be able to transform raw materials into nylon precursors very selectively.
通过研究，我们成功制造出了添加适当化学物质且电压合适的电化学反应，它能够以很高的反应选择性将原材料转化为尼龙的前驱物质。
We achieved selectivity of more than 80 percent, a value that is on par with commercial reactors.
我们实现了80%以上的反应选择性，这一比率与商用反应堆持平。
But we didn't stop there.
但我们并没有止步于此。
While most electrochemical reactions operate with a constant stream of electrical currents, we knew that if we control the interactions between the electricity input and molecules, we could achieve a higher performance.
大多数电化学反应都是在恒定的电流下进行的，但我们知道，如果我们控制电流输入和分子之间的相互作用，我们可以获得更好的结果。
To do that, we decided to start exploring different electrical pulses in the search for the right pulse sequence that will deliver electrons at the same rate that molecules could react.
为了做到这一点，我们决定开始探索不同的电脉冲，以寻找正确的脉冲序列，让分子反应速度与电子传递的速度同步。
Since there were so many pulses that we needed to test, we decided to then use a few number of results from different pulses to train machine-learning models that then help us identify the appropriate pulse sequence for this reaction.
由于需要测试的脉冲太多，我们决定使用一些不同脉冲的结果来训练机器学习模型，帮助我们判断适合电化学反应的脉冲序列。
This was the first time that artificial intelligence was used to optimize an electrochemical reaction, and the pulse sequence that we discovered allows us to increase by 30 percent the production rate of these reactors.
这是人类首次应用人工智能优化电化学反应，我们发现的脉冲序列能够将反应堆的生产率提高30%。
These large improvements in efficiency, selectivity and production rates are very important because they will ensure that electrochemical reactions are competitive with fossil-fuel-powered ones which are already highly optimized.
效率、选择性和生产率的大幅提高非常重要，只有这样，电化学反应相对于已经高度成熟的化石燃料动力才具有竞争力。
But hey, nylon is only one molecule in a network of tens of thousands of chemical products, many of which you see in this diagram, and many of which are a common occurrence in your daily lives.
但是，尼龙只是成千上万种化学产品构成的网络中的一个小分子，这张图中就包含很多化学产品，很多在日常生活中十分常见。
Just think of the plastics that are used to make your computers and phones, or the pane that covers the walls around us, or the medicines that help us live a healthy life.
想想用来制造电脑和手机的塑料，镶嵌在墙壁里的玻璃窗，或者帮助我们过上健康生活的药物。
We're going to have to decarbonize it all within the next 30 years.
未来30年内，我们将必须让所有这些化学产品的生产流程实现脱碳。
That means that we're going to have to discover, develop and deploy chemical processes much faster than we did in the past century.
这意味着我们将必须以比上个世纪更快的速度发现、开发和应用化学工艺。
To that end, my group at NYU is combining artificial intelligence with autonomous research tools to run hundreds to thousands of experiments per day.
为此，我在纽约大学的团队正在将人工智能与自主研究工具相结合，每天进行数百到数千次实验。
In this way, we hope to decrease the time from idea to discovery by more than 100 times.
我们希望通过这种方式，将从概念到成果的时间缩短超过100倍。
Beyond nylon, we're also looking into production processes to manufacture other chemicals like ethylene and propylene.
除了尼龙，我们还在研究生产乙烯和丙烯等其他化学品的生产工艺。
These are the main precursors to most of the plastic in the world.
这些是世界上大多数塑料主要的前驱物质。
Through electrochemistry, we have managed to electrify already the most energy intensive steps on the production process of these chemicals: a set of processes that alone account for a very substantial amount of energy in the chemical manufacturing industry.
通过电化学，我们已经将这些化学品的生产过程中最耗能的步骤成功实现了电气化：这一系列步骤在化学制造业中的能耗非常高。
We're also rethinking the way that we make our chemicals and the chemicals supply chain, by developing new processes that can use and transform food waste into the chemicals that we make today from oil.
我们还在重新思考生产化学品和发展化学品供应链的方式，以及如何开发新的工艺来利用食物垃圾，并将其转化为目前只能从石油中提取的化学品。
This can be done by extracting molecules from waste streams and using them as precursors to things like plastics, additives, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and many more.
方式是从废物流中提取分子并将其用作塑料、添加剂、化妆品和药品等物品的前驱物质。
And in this way, enhancing sustainability in chemical manufacture even further.
通过这种方式，进一步提高化工生产的可持续性。
The chemical industry is central to our modern economy and to our ways of life.
化学工业是我们现代经济和生活方式的核心。
Decarbonizing it will take us several decades.
化学工业的脱碳将需要几十年的时间来完成。
This will include things like retrofitting our chemical plants so they can use electricity directly, capturing and sequestering CO2 as it comes out of the gas flue stacks, and more importantly, developing new chemical processes that are more efficient and can source electricity directly from clean sources.
这包括对我们的化工厂进行改造，让它们能够直接使用电力，捕获并隔离从烟囱中排出的二氧化碳，更重要的是，开发更高效的新化学工艺，可以直接利用清洁能源发电。
By accelerating research in electrochemical manufacturing, my team aims to develop some of these reactions and in this way help to transform the chemical industry one reaction at a time.
我的团队加快了电化学制造方面的研究，旨在开发其中的一些反应，一次开发一种，并通过这种方式帮助化学工业做出改变。
When we get there, we will have been able to erase the carbon footprint of the chemical industry.
当我们真正完成这项任务，就能消除化学工业的碳足迹。
And while we won't be able to bring our tropical glaciers back, we will have helped to develop a sustainable path for the future of our planet.
虽然不能挽救消逝的热带冰川，但我们能让地球获得一个可持续的未来。
Thank you.
谢谢。
