Researchers use AI to plot green route to nylon
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190826143410.htm
A team at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering reported that in its search to develop an innovative, environmentally friendly process to make adiponitrile (ADN) -- the main precursor to nylon 6, 6 -- it found a way to greatly improve the efficiency of organic electrosynthesis. The researchers credited their success in part to what they believe is the first use of artificial intelligence to optimize an electrochemical process.
Miguel Modestino, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and doctoral student Daniela Blanco tweaked how electrical current is delivered to catalytic electrodes and then applied artificial intelligence (AI) to further optimize the reaction. By doing so they achieved a 30% improvement in ADN production