Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Seminar: Wei Fan

The Department of Biomedical & Chemical Engineering is pleased to welcome Dr. Wei Fan from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in presenting his seminar, “Integrated Synthesis and Simulation Study on Engineering Defects and Crystallization Kinetics of Zeolites”.

Abstract

Zeolites represent a major cornerstone of today’s energy industry as the most widely used petrochemical catalysts in the world and as catalysts for biomass conversion and CO2 utilization. Zeolites are nanoporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials with regular arrays of molecule-sized nanopores (to date, up to 12 Å in diameter), which give rise to size- and shape-selective adsorption, diffusion, and reaction of adsorbed guest molecules. In theory, idealized zeolite frameworks involve corner-sharing tetrahedra with Si and possibly other metallic atoms at tetrahedral sites connected by oxygen to form 3D networks. In practice, zeolites contain point defects that confer important chemical and physical properties, such as acid/base sites and hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces, respectively. Despite massive research efforts, the rational synthesis of zeolites with targeted framework structures, compositions, and defect properties remains a grand challenge because of the complex interplay among synthesis parameters and our poor understanding of zeolite crystallization mechanisms. In this presentation, I will introduce a new route (the third route) to zeolite formation that provides both (i) faster crystallization and (ii) the titration of controlled Si-OH/Si-O- defects into zeolites by choosing organic structure directing agents (OSDAs). The presence of such defects has been shown to enhance the catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived feedstocks, improve functionalization of zeolites as support materials, and increase CO2 uptake, all of which are critical clean energy applications.

For more information, contact Prof.  Mary Beth Monroe at mbmonroe@syr.edu or Prof. Viktor Cybulskis at vjcybuls@syr.edu