The main objective of Action 30 has been to stimulate the tuning of chemical and biochemical processes through the application of high pressure as a physical variable, in order to achieve lower energy consumption, less pollution and higher selectivity in chemical and biochemical transformations, and production of new materials with better properties. The Action built on existing knowledge on the effect of pressure on chemical and biochemical processes, in order to systematically tune the desired properties of such systems for selective applications in industrial, environmental and biological processes.
High pressure as a physical variable has been used in material sciences for understanding and/or modifying physical properties. The development of ammonia and methanol synthesis from small molecules has introduced large-scale pressure technology in the chemical industry and contributed to the development of industrial catalysis. Moreover, in the last two decades, the demand for new materials with better properties has provided new competitive processes based on high pressures, especially for electronics and optoelectronics. At the same time, it has been recognised that pressure can be used as a probe for the study of structural modifications in the amorphous and crystalline sates, and at the molecular and macromolecular levels.
Action D30 has brought together a leading group of scientists in Europe to examine the effects of pressure on projects ranging from organometallic catalysis at modest to moderate pressures (0.1-10 MPa), to material science at very high pressures (10-11 GPa), to biological processes both in vitro and in vivo in moderate to high pressures (20-400 MPa).
Action D30 comprised teams from 18 COST countries. In addition, groups from Russia, China, Canada and Japan have participated in the network. The achievements of this Action have been disseminated through various Action workshops and meetings, presentations in international conferences and the publication of a large number of research articles in peer-reviewed journals.
