Nanoengineered Materials for Clean Catalytic Technologies
Lead Research Organisation:
Aston University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering and Applied Science
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 / Fellow) |
Publications
Lee AF
(2014)
Heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable biodiesel production via esterification and transesterification.
in Chemical Society reviews
Morales G
(2014)
Conformal sulfated zirconia monolayer catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of ethyl levulinate from glucose.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Chen D
(2015)
Synthetic strategies to nanostructured photocatalysts for CO 2 reduction to solar fuels and chemicals
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Durndell L
(2015)
Platinum-catalysed cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation in continuous flow
in RSC Advances
Osatiashtiani A
(2015)
Hydrothermally Stable, Conformal, Sulfated Zirconia Monolayer Catalysts for Glucose Conversion to 5-HMF
in ACS Catalysis
Durndell LJ
(2015)
Selectivity control in Pt-catalyzed cinnamaldehyde hydrogenation.
in Scientific reports
Dos Santos V
(2015)
Physicochemical properties of WO x /ZrO 2 catalysts for palmitic acid esterification
in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Ciddor L
(2015)
Catalytic upgrading of bio-oils by esterification
in Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Ardemani L
(2015)
Solid base catalysed 5-HMF oxidation to 2,5-FDCA over Au/hydrotalcites: fact or fiction?
in Chemical science
Manayil J
(2016)
Mesoporous sulfonic acid silicas for pyrolysis bio-oil upgrading via acetic acid esterification
in Green Chemistry
Osatiashtiani A
(2016)
Influence of alkyl chain length on sulfated zirconia catalysed batch and continuous esterification of carboxylic acids by light alcohols
in Green Chemistry
Hara T
(2016)
Hydrophenylation of internal alkynes with boronic acids catalysed by a Ni-Zn hydroxy double salt-intercalated anionic rhodium( iii ) complex
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Parlett CM
(2016)
Spatially orthogonal chemical functionalization of a hierarchical pore network for catalytic cascade reactions.
in Nature materials
Taylor M
(2016)
Highly selective hydrogenation of furfural over supported Pt nanoparticles under mild conditions
in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Karthikeyan S
(2016)
Hydroxyl radical generation by cactus-like copper oxide nanoporous carbon catalysts for microcystin-LR environmental remediation
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Jiang Z
(2016)
Photodeposition as a facile route to tunable Pt photocatalysts for hydrogen production: on the role of methanol
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Zhang X
(2016)
Heterogeneously Catalyzed Hydrothermal Processing of C5-C6 Sugars.
in Chemical reviews
Montero J
(2016)
The surface chemistry of nanocrystalline MgO catalysts for FAME production: An in situ XPS study of H2O, CH3OH and CH3OAc adsorption
in Surface Science
Osatiashtiani A
(2017)
On the influence of Si:Al ratio and hierarchical porosity of FAU zeolites in solid acid catalysed esterification pretreatment of bio-oil
in Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Rabee A
(2017)
Acidity-Reactivity Relationships in Catalytic Esterification over Ammonium Sulfate-Derived Sulfated Zirconia
in Catalysts
Manayil JC
(2017)
Impact of Macroporosity on Catalytic Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil by Esterification over Silica Sulfonic Acids.
in ChemSusChem
Manayil J
(2017)
Octyl Co-grafted PrSO 3 H/SBA-15: Tunable Hydrophobic Solid Acid Catalysts for Acetic Acid Esterification
in ChemCatChem
Silva Â
(2017)
Nb2O5/SBA-15 catalyzed propanoic acid esterification
in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Rabee A
(2018)
Citrate-mediated sol-gel synthesis of Al-substituted sulfated zirconia catalysts for a-pinene isomerization
in Molecular Catalysis
Isaacs M
(2019)
Unravelling mass transport in hierarchically porous catalysts
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Isaacs M
(2019)
Unravelling mass transport in hierarchically porous catalysts
Durndell L
(2019)
Platinum catalysed aerobic selective oxidation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamic acid
in Catalysis Today
Durndell L
(2019)
Structure-Reactivity Relations in Ruthenium Catalysed Furfural Hydrogenation
in ChemCatChem
Shivhare A
(2020)
Metal-Acid Synergy: Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole over Pt/Al-SBA-15.
in ChemSusChem
Shivhare A
(2020)
Metal-Acid Synergy: Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole over Pt/Al-SBA-15
in ChemSusChem
Shivhare A
(2020)
Metal-Acid Synergy: Hydrodeoxygenation of Anisole over Pt/Al-SBA-15.
in ChemSusChem
Description | New methods to create and characterise advanced materials for diverse catalytic applications. |
Exploitation Route | Many. |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |