IUPAC Announces the 2021 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry
Abstract
IUPAC has released the results of its 2021 search for the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry. The goal of this project is to showcase the transformative value of Chemistry and to inform the general public on the potential of the chemical sciences to foster the well-being of Society and the sustainability of our Planet. Following the same guidance as it did last year, the Jury[*], a selection of international experts, identified different emerging technologies, scientific advances in between a discovery and a fully-commercialized ideas, with outstanding capacity to open new opportunities in chemistry, sustainability, and beyond. The 2021 finalists are (in alphabetical order):
Artificial humic matter from biomass
Blockchain technology
Chemiluminescence for biological use
Chemical synthesis of RNA and DNA
Semi-synthetic life
Single cell metabolomics
Sonochemical coatings
Superwettability
Sustainable production of ammonia
Targeted protein degradation

IUPAC Vice President, Javier García Martínez, said that “In the last months, we have witnessed how vital chemistry is in facing and overcomin g our most pressing challenges. Moving forward, these threats will only be more complex and unpredictable—as the recent IPCC report alerts us to the risk posed by climate change for our survival. With the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry, IUPAC provides a fresh look at technologies that are already creating new opportunities and opening new avenues for research and industry. I hope this year’s edition arouses the same interest and attention as previous IUPAC Top Ten selections.”
The 2021 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry are further detailed in a feature article published in this issue of Chemistry International, see page 13. The author, Fernando Gomollón-Bel, remarks: “While highlighting breakthroughs for a circular, climate-neutral future, the selected technologies will change our world for the better, making a more thoughtful use of our resources, favoring more efficient transformations, and providing more sustainable solutions in applications.”
The first selection of Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry was released in 2019 as a special activity honoring IUPAC’s 100th anniversary; the results were published in the April 2019 (Chem Int, 41(2), pp. 12-17, 2019; https://doi.org/10.1515/ci-2019-0203). The 2020 results were published in October 2020 (Chem. Int. 42(4) pp. 3-9, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1515/ci-2020-0402)2019.
The next search for the Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry has already begun and the deadline for submission is 31 March 2022. It will be led again by Michael Droescher.
For more information on the 2019 and 2020 selections and on the search for the 2022 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry go to: https://iupac.org/what-we-do/top-ten/.
©2021 IUPAC & De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead - Full issue pdf
- Features
- Restructuring IUPAC at the Turn of the 20th Century
- Systems Thinking and Sustainability
- IOCD turns 40
- IUPAC Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry 2021
- IUPAC Wire
- Chemistry International–Freely-Available Across the World
- IUPAC Announces the 2021 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry
- Climate Change 2021—The Physical Science Basis
- 2022 IUPAC-Richter Prize—Call for Nominations
- Awardees of the 2021 IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award for Advancements in Green Chemistry
- An Interview with Joseph Wang
- In Memoriam: Gus Somsen
- In Memoriam: Aubrey Dennis Jenkins
- Up for Discussion
- Combat Ethical Pollution in the Chemical Community
- Project Place
- Safety Training Program e-learning
- Green Chemistry in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Categorizing Interactions Involving Group 11 Elements
- Recommendations for terms relating to materials characterization: Latin and other introduced terms
- IUPAC Provisional Recommendations
- Making an imPACt
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- Interpretation and use of standard atomic weights (IUPAC Technical Report)
- Glossary of methods and terms used in analytical spectroscopy (IUPAC Recommendations 2019)
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