Designing heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemistry
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Designing heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemistry
Wed, 15/01/2014 - 15:00 to 16:00
Location:
Speaker:
Prof Karen Wilson
Affiliation:
Aston University
Synopsis:
Catalytic technologies play a critical role in the economic development of both the chemicals industry and modern society, underpinning 90 % of chemical manufacturing processes and contributing to over 20% of all industrial products. Concerns over dwindling oil reserves, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel sources and associated climate change is driving the urgent need for clean, renewable energy supplies. Biomass derived from waste agricultural/forestry materials or non-food crops, offers the most easily implemented and low cost solution for transportation fuels, and the only non-petroleum route to organic molecules for the manufacture of bulk, fine and speciality chemicals necessary to secure the future needs of society. However, to facilitate such a transition requires innovations in catalyst and process design for the selective conversion of these hydrophilic, bulky feedstocks into fuels or high-value chemicals.
This presentation will discuss the challenges faced in catalytic biomass processing, and highlight recent successes in catalyst design which have been facilitated by advances in nanotechnology and careful tuning of catalyst formulation. Specific case studies will explore how the effects of pore architecture and acid strength can impact upon process efficiency in free fatty acid esterification in biodiesel synthesis and the dehydration of glucose to the important platform chemicals 5-HMF and levulinic acid.
Biography:
Karen is currently a Chair of Catalysis and Research Director of the European Bioenergy Research Institute at Aston University, where she also holds a Royal Society Industry Fellowship in collaboration with Johnson Matthey. Karen’s research interests lie in the design of heterogeneous catalysts for clean chemical synthesis, particularly the design of tuneable porous materials for sustainable biofuels and chemicals production from renewable resources. Karen has a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (1992), an MSc with distinction in heterogeneous catalysis from the University of Liverpool (1993) and a PhD (1996) in heterogeneous catalysis and surface science from the University of Cambridge. Following post-doctoral research at Cambridge and the University of York, Karen was appointed to her first independent academic position at York in 1999 where she stayed until 2009 after appointment to a Readership in Physical Chemistry at Cardiff University.