Houston Chronicle by Andrea Leinfelder March 19, 2019
Gaurab Chakrabarti was studying cancer cells in 2013 when he discovered a protein that turns sugar, water and oxygen into hydrogen peroxide — a surprisingly versatile (and lucrative) chemical.
His initial focus was understanding how cancer cells make hydrogen peroxide to mutate their DNA and survive attacks from the body’s immune system. But upon discovering the protein, Chakrabarti recognized the chemical’s positive uses. It prevents infection on a scraped knee, cleans up grease, helps etch printed circuit boards and kills bacteria on fruits and vegetables.
Its ability to clean wastewater from hydraulic fracturing could be the most popular use in Texas, a proposition that has helped Houston-based Solugen raise nearly $20 million from investors in Silicon Valley.
“What if you could use that water for other things?†Chakrabarti asked.
Solugen creates hydrogen peroxide by placing natural materials — sugar, water, oxygen and a proprietary catalyst derived from the protein - into a reactor system. The system does not require the high pressure or intense heat typical of making the chemical compound.
And by building a portable reactor system that’s 23 feet tall and mounted on a semi-trailer truck, Solugen could help companies make hydrogen peroxide on their jobsites. They would no longer pay to ship it across the country.
“If you look at the chemicals market, in a large nutshell, it’s really constrained by logistics and shipping,†he said.
Cancer curiousity
Chakrabarti became interested in hydrogen peroxide while earning his Ph.D. in biochemistry and M.D. training in oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His friend and co-founder Sean Hunt was scrutinizing the more traditional method for making hydrogen peroxide while earning his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Solugen-finds-sweet-spot-with-industrial-hydrogen-13705889.php
