Nanoengineered Materials for Clean Catalytic Technologies
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Catalysis lies at the heart of life on earth, powers our homes and puts food on our tables. However to a large degree our ability to transform individual atoms and molecules into new pharmaceutical medicines, fuels, and fertilisers has depended upon an equal combination of brilliant science and serendipitous discoveries. This reflects the complex interactions between reacting molecules and products, their surrounding environment, and of course the catalyst itself, which ideally remains unchanged over thousands of reaction cycles. Recent advances in chemical synthesis and analysis now offer an unprecedented opportunity to sculpt the atomic structure of solid catalysts and to peer inside their microscopic workings.Over the next five years, I propose to integrate these new experimental and theoretical breakthroughs with my own expertise in catalyst design and testing, to develop a new generation of nanoengineered materials for the clean production of valuable chemical feedstocks and sustainable biofuels. New collaborations, forged with world leaders in the areas of inorganic solid-state chemistry, nanoscale imaging and computer modelling, will help me to develop the multidisciplinary skillsets needed to achieve my vision of solid catalysts, tailored 'on demand', for efficient clean technologies that will benefit society over the coming decade.
People |
ORCID iD |
Adam Lee (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Lee, A.F.
(2010)
Evidence for the surface catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction over Pd nanocatalysts: An operando XAS study
in ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Pirez C
(2012)
Tunable KIT-6 Mesoporous Sulfonic Acid Catalysts for Fatty Acid Esterification
in ACS Catalysis
Dingwall L
(2012)
Bifunctional Organorhodium Solid Acid Catalysts for Methanol Carbonylation
in ACS Catalysis
Parlett C
(2011)
Support-Enhanced Selective Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation over Pd/Mesoporous Silicas
in ACS Catalysis
Parlett C
(2013)
Hierarchically Ordered Nanoporous Pd/SBA-15 Catalyst for the Aerobic Selective Oxidation of Sterically Challenging Allylic Alcohols
in ACS Catalysis
Lee A
(2012)
High-Pressure XPS of Crotyl Alcohol Selective Oxidation over Metallic and Oxidized Pd(111)
in ACS Catalysis
Lee A.F.
(2011)
Nanoengineering the active site in heterogeneous catalysis
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Dacquin J.-P.
(2010)
Hierarchical porous catalysts tailored for biodiesel production
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Dacquin J.-P.
(2010)
Hierarchical porous catalysts tailored for biodiesel production
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Woodford J.
(2010)
Hierarchical nanoporous solid base catalysts for biofuels
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Lee A.F.
(2011)
Nanoengineering the active site in heterogeneous catalysis
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Montero J.M.
(2010)
New solid base catalysts for biodiesel synthesis
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Woodford J.
(2010)
Hierarchical nanoporous solid base catalysts for biofuels
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Montero J.M.
(2010)
New solid base catalysts for biodiesel synthesis
in ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Zhang X
(2018)
Sulfated Zirconia Catalysts for D-Sorbitol Cascade Cyclodehydration to Isosorbide: Impact of Zirconia Phase
in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Shamsuddin S
(2010)
Impact of in-line atmospheric plasma fluorination of carbon fibers on the performance of unidirectional, carbon fiber-reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride
in Advances in Polymer Technology
Lee A
(2012)
Active Site Elucidation in Heterogeneous Catalysis via In Situ X-Ray Spectroscopies
in Australian Journal of Chemistry
Osatiashtiani A
(2014)
Bifunctional SO 4 /ZrO 2 catalysts for 5-hydroxymethylfufural (5-HMF) production from glucose
in Catal. Sci. Technol.
Parlett C
(2014)
Selective oxidation of allylic alcohols over highly ordered Pd/meso-Al2O3 catalysts
in Catalysis Communications
Liu D
(2012)
On the impact of Cu dispersion on CO2 photoreduction over Cu/TiO2
in Catalysis Communications
Eze V
(2013)
Heterogeneous catalysis in an oscillatory baffled flow reactor
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Wilson K
(2012)
Rational design of heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Parlett C
(2014)
Alumina-grafted SBA-15 as a high performance support for Pd-catalysed cinnamyl alcohol selective oxidation
in Catalysis Today
Parlett C
(2013)
Operando synchronous DRIFTS/MS/XAS as a powerful tool for guiding the design of Pd catalysts for the selective oxidation of alcohols
in Catalysis Today
Lee A
(2010)
In situ studies of titania-supported Au shell-Pd core nanoparticles for the selective aerobic oxidation of crotyl alcohol
in Catalysis Today
Lee A
(2015)
Recent developments in heterogeneous catalysis for the sustainable production of biodiesel
in Catalysis Today
Rabee A
(2017)
Acidity-Reactivity Relationships in Catalytic Esterification over Ammonium Sulfate-Derived Sulfated Zirconia
in Catalysts
Parlett C
(2012)
Mesoporous Silicas as Versatile Supports to Tune the Palladium-Catalyzed Selective Aerobic Oxidation of Allylic Alcohols
in ChemCatChem
Sánchez-Vázquez R
(2013)
Zr-Containing Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Mesoporous Materials: Hydrophobic Acid Catalysts for Biodiesel Production.
in ChemCatChem
Bonne M
(2011)
A general route to synthesize supported isolated oxide and mixed-oxide nanoclusters at sizes below 5 nm.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Lee AF
(2010)
Surface X-ray studies of catalytic clean technologies.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Dacquin JP
(2012)
Pore-expanded SBA-15 sulfonic acid silicas for biodiesel synthesis.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Montero J
(2010)
In situ studies of structure-reactivity relations in biodiesel synthesis over nanocrystalline MgO
in Chemical Engineering Journal
Parlett CM
(2013)
Hierarchical porous materials: catalytic applications.
in Chemical Society reviews
Shamsuddin S
(2011)
Synergy of matrix and fibre modification on adhesion between carbon fibres and poly(vinylidene fluoride)
in Composites Science and Technology
Lee AF
(2010)
Surface catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling by Pd nanoparticles: an operando XAS study.
in Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)
Woodford J
(2012)
Better by design: nanoengineered macroporous hydrotalcites for enhanced catalytic biodiesel production
in Energy & Environmental Science
Ayris P
(2013)
SO2 sequestration in large volcanic eruptions: High-temperature scavenging by tephra
in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Pirez C
(2014)
An energy-efficient route to the rapid synthesis of organically-modified SBA-15 via ultrasonic template removal
in Green Chem.
Kapil A
(2011)
Kinetic Modeling Studies of Heterogeneously Catalyzed Biodiesel Synthesis Reactions
in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Vinod C
(2011)
Recent advances in the heterogeneously catalysed aerobic selective oxidation of alcohols
in Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Woodford J
(2013)
Identifying the active phase in Cs-promoted MgO nanocatalysts for triglyceride transesterification
in Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Buckley J
(2010)
Hydroxyapatite supported antibacterial Ag3PO4 nanoparticles
in Journal of Materials Chemistry
Lee AF
(2011)
Reaction-driven surface restructuring and selectivity control in allylic alcohol catalytic aerobic oxidation over Pd.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Dacquin JP
(2009)
An efficient route to highly organized, tunable macroporous-mesoporous alumina.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Menzel R
(2009)
Inverse gas chromatography of as-received and modified carbon nanotubes.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Wainwright S
(2013)
True liquid crystal templating of SBA-15 with reduced microporosity
in Microporous and Mesoporous Materials
Pirez C
(2018)
Sol-gel synthesis of SBA-15: Impact of HCl on surface chemistry
in Microporous and Mesoporous Materials
Description | See EP/G007594/4 |
Exploitation Route | Yes |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | Selective catalytic transformations for agrochemicals |
Organisation | Syngenta International AG |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Two part-sponsored PhD studentships have undertake fundamental research into the mechanism of palladium catalysed transformations and identified key factors controlling the catalytic performance and stability of nanoparticles. |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to laboratories, intellectual guidance, provision of catalysts |
Impact | One PhD graduated to date, and 2 peer-reviewed publications. |
Start Year | 2009 |
Description | Synchtrotron studies of nanostructured materials |
Organisation | Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | New research areas in catalysis and materials science developed resulting in numerous jointly authored publications over 17 years. |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to synchtrotron facilities and training of 8 PhD students and PDRAs |
Impact | Joint publications, contributions to annual highlights, invited seminar and Fonda-Fasella 2004 award |