(3hp) Catalyst Design Via Morphology Engineering for CO2 Utilization and Environmental Sustainability

Design and discovery of new catalysts is key to ever-growing chemical and petrochemical industry. Out of many conventional and modern techniques to design catalysts including defect engineering, high-entropy catalysts, composition adjustment, optimization of atom economy, morphology engineering is also another viable route to overcome kinetic barriers commonly faced in many chemical reactions. Working mostly on siliceous matter due to being nontoxic, moldable, and integrable with other catalytic materials, my research is aimed at various pore-making and hollowing methodologies to fabricate novel catalytic materials and devices that are more efficient than their conventional and simpler catalyst counterparts.

Besides catalyst discovery, I am also interested in catalytic CO₂ conversion which has long emerged as an important strategy in achieving net-zero emissions and fostering a sustainable world. When combined with renewable H₂, CO₂ hydrogenation can sustainably store the energy and produce value-added chemicals such as methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether, gasoline, and kerosene. The source of CO₂ for hydrogenation encompasses a variety of feedstocks such as industrial flue gases, atmospheric CO₂, and biogas, to name a few. Therefore, CO₂ hydrogenation is not only a potentially viable approach for renewable energy storage and carbon recycling but also a promising solution to enhancing energy security and decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels. However, as a relatively new topic in heterogeneous catalysis, there are challenges facing CO₂ hydrogenation and hindering its practical application. First, CO₂ is a highly stable molecule. Many CO₂ hydrogenation reactions are favored at elevated temperatures and pressures to boost the reaction kinetics. Moreover, most CO₂ hydrogenation reactions are exothermic, with bottlenecks in precise control of product selectivity. Therefore, many CO₂ hydrogenation reactions are both thermodynamically and kinetically limited. Therefore, thoughtful catalyst and reactor designs are of critical importance to overcome these barriers.

To facilitate efficient CO₂ hydrogenation reactions, my research spotlights two crucial aspects: (i) designing advanced nanocatalysts and (ii) developing new reaction processes. Ranging from freestanding/supported nanoparticles (NPs) to mixed metal oxides and monometallic to multicomponent nanocatalysts, my contribution to the field is to design and discovery of new and effective catalysts for CO₂ utilization reactions (e.g. thermocatalytic CO₂ hydrogenation utilizing core-shell silica structures, silica-reinforced metal-organic frameworks, and silica-confined MoS₂) with high catalytic reactivity (activity, selectivity, stability) to facilitate higher reaction rates/kinetics, attenuated mass transfer or diffusion resistances, and overcome the inherently uphill reaction thermodynamics. That being said, I have been utilizing various design and synthesis techniques to tailor nanocatalysts’ shape, texture, matter, composition, density, porosity, hierarchy, surface, structure, size, and even the cost. To sum up, I am very particular on deciding architectural conceivability, materials selection, synthetic technique, and integration strategy during nanocatalyst development. I also leverage my expertise on diverse CO₂-related catalytic reactions across various reactor systems. Although conventional thermocatalysis approach still holds great promise in chemical industry, I will continue exploring emerging catalytic processes such as plasmocatalysis and liquid-metal catalysis, both of which are rising and poised to revolutionize the catalysis field due to their new chemistries. The ultimate goal of my research is thus to contribute to gaining deeper understanding, fostering the technological advancement, and opening up new opportunities in the field of CO₂ utilization and hydrogenation reactions, with a pressing focus on renewability of energy sources and feedstock, to address key challenges in mitigating global climate change and transitioning towards a sustainable society.

Teaching Interests:

I value teaching for its pedagogical role in inspiring students in their pursuit of knowledge. My philosophy for teaching is that it should be student-centered and purpose-oriented while fostering conceptual understanding. I was involved in teaching two undergraduate courses at North Carolina State University: Chemical Reactions & Chemical Reactors, and Transport Processes II. Being a PhD alumnus of a Top-20 University worldwide, I am capable to teach other related subjects to my field such as instrumental analysis, nanomaterials and nanocatalysts, and advanced mathematics. Aligned with my research, I also put great emphasis on the importance of learning and understanding density functional theory (DFT), programming/coding languages (Matlab and Python), and specialty software (Aspen Plus). Having said that, I equip the next-gen students with the right and necessary skills as future-ready researchers and industry workforce.