Events Calendar

Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Seminar - Distinguished Lecture Series

Speaker: Professor Thomas F. Jaramillo, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

Talk Title: Catalysts and processes for the sustainable production and use of fuels and chemicals

Abstract: Society has benefitted tremendously from the science and engineering efforts that have brought crucial fuels and chemical products to market at a global-scale based on fossil feedstocks: oil, coal, and natural gas. This includes conventional liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, in addition to many other important products such as plastics (e.g. polyethylene) and fertilizer (i.e. ammonia, NH3). Continuing to use fossil-based resources at such high rates, however, could potentially lead to troubling consequences ahead. This motivates the development of new chemical processes to produce the same kinds of fuels and chemicals that we rely on today, however using renewable energy and sustainable feedstocks instead.

In this talk we will discuss new processes that employ renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar) to power the production of fuels and chemicals in a sustainable manner. This effort is largely motivated by the dropping costs of renewable electricity, the growing penetration of renewables into energy markets, and the need for storing variable electricity. Central to this theme is an effort to develop catalyst materials and associated processes capable of driving important chemical transformations in a sustainable manner involving renewable energy. Specific examples include the production of hydrogen (H2),1,2 carbon-based products (e.g. hydrocarbons, alcohols),3 and ammonia (NH3) fertilizer.4

The development of catalysts with appropriate properties can serve as the basis of new, renewable pathways to produce the large-scale fuels and chemicals that could play a major role in reaching sustainability goals for the globe.
References
1. Z.W. Seh, J. Kibsgaard, C.F. Dickens, I. Chorkendorff, J.K. Nørskov, T.F. Jaramillo. Science, 355, 6321 (2017).
2. J.W.D. Ng, T.R. Hellstern, J. Kibsgaard, A.C. Hinckley, J.D. Benck, and T.F. Jaramillo. ChemSusChem, 8, 3512-3519 (2015).
3. C. Hahn, T. Hatsukade, Y.-G. Kim, A. Vailionis, J.H. Baricuatro, D.C. Higgins, S.A. Nitopi, M.P. Soriaga, and T.F. Jaramillo. Proc. Nat. Adad. Sci., 114, 5918-“5923 (2017).
4. J.M. McEnaney, A.R. Singh, J.A. Schwalbe, J. Kibsgaard, J.C. Lin, M. Cargnello, T.F. Jaramillo, and J.K. Nørskov. Energy Environ. Sci, 10, 1621-1630 (2017).


Host: Dr. Yoon

Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 200

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Karen Woo/Mork Family