Date/Time
Date(s) - 21/11/2024
1:30 pm - 2:20 pm

Title: ALD-Driven Design of Hierarchical Hydrogenation Catalysts

Date: Thursday November 21, 2024

Time: 1:30-2:20pm

Room: ABB 165

Host: Dr. David Emslie

Abstract:

Our multidisciplinary research group focuses on molecular inorganic synthesis, thin film materials via atomic layer deposition (ALD), and heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemical transformations. Our goal is the convergence of these subdisciplines of inorganic chemistry towards the synthesis of complex hierarchical catalyst systems that are active, selective, and highly reusable. Out of these efforts has emerged our parallel research thrusts on catalyst performance enhancement via selective ALD-overcoating, and the controlled growth of nanocatalysts on contiguous Ni foam monoliths, the latter of which frames our ongoing efforts.

Using this approach our group has explored the growth of highly reactive and robust platinum group-based nanocatalysts with low-to-ultralow metal loadings. Platinum group catalysts are critical enablers of numerous synthetic organic transformations. Their superior reactivity, tuneable selectivity, and relative stability under broad-ranging conditions has bolstered their wide-spread adoption by the catalysis and synthetic organic chemistry communities. Conversely their low Earth abundance, and regions of production which can be impacted by geopolitical events can lead to a volatile market. Enhancing the efficiency and reusability of these catalyst systems has become an important, and fundamentally interesting avenue of research. The preparation of supported Pt, and Pd-based nanocatalysts and their application towards the catalytic hydrogenation of -NO₂, C=N, C=C, and C?C moieties, in batch and flow, under mild conditions will be discussed.

Biography: 

Originally from Romania, Titel emigrated to, and grew up in Ottawa Canada. He received his BSc in 2008 from the University of Ottawa, where he worked with Deryn Fogg on high throughput screening of metathesis catalysts. In the interim, he spent a summer in the lab of Doug Stephan at the University of Windsor working on FLP chemistry. He then returned to the University of Ottawa to pursue a PhD in main group coordination chemistry with Darrin Richeson (2012). He followed this with a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Bristol with Ian Manners (2012-15) working on main group polymers and a second postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University with Tobin Marks (2015-2017) working on ALD precursors and supported catalysts. In 2017 he began his independent career at the University of Central Florida.