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.
Publications
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
Morales G
(2014)
Conformal sulfated zirconia monolayer catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of ethyl levulinate from glucose
in Chem. Commun.
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
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
Osatiashtiani A
(2015)
Hydrothermally Stable, Conformal, Sulfated Zirconia Monolayer Catalysts for Glucose Conversion to 5-HMF
in ACS Catalysis
Parlett CM
(2016)
Spatially orthogonal chemical functionalization of a hierarchical pore network for catalytic cascade reactions.
in Nature materials
Rabee A
(2017)
Acidity-Reactivity Relationships in Catalytic Esterification over Ammonium Sulfate-Derived Sulfated Zirconia
in Catalysts
Rabee A
(2018)
Citrate-mediated sol-gel synthesis of Al-substituted sulfated zirconia catalysts for a-pinene isomerization
in Molecular Catalysis
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 |