We humans are not particularly good at chemistry, so it’s helpful when molecules have a nice reactive handle to work with, like a double bond. Unfortunately, the molecules we pull out of the ground or extract from natural sources are mostly saturated. Therefore, dehydrogenation reactions enable the upgrading of abundant light alkanes and bio-alcohols into chemical intermediates, or the use of H-rich molecules as hydrogen batteries, aka liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs). The Notestein research group investigates catalyst design for improving reactions like these.
Justin Notestein,
Northwestern University
For this talk, I will discuss our efforts to understand and improve two classes of materials for dehydrogenation catalysis. In the first story, we have been investigating metal sulfide catalysts and comparing them to their analogous oxides for alkane dehydrogenation to olefins and alcohol dehydrogenation to aldehydes and esters/lactones. Within this broader class, we have studied conventional supported materials, sulfide-containing metal-organic frameworks, and pore-trapped sulfide clusters as alternatives to zero-valent metal (e.g. Pt or Cu) catalysts. In the second story, I will discuss recent work on methane dehydroaromatization, either for the purpose of manufacturing chemical intermediates and fuel blendstocks, or for the production of ‘turquoise’ hydrogen. I will talk about our approach to understanding potential active sites in these materials, but I will also broach bigger questions of what materials we seek to investigate, what we report about them, and why.
Justin Notestein is a professor of chemical and biological engineering. He received his BSE from Princeton in 2001, a PhD from Berkeley in 2006, and did a brief postdoc at Urbana-Champaign. His entire academic career has been at Northwestern University, where he has been a professor for 17 years and is currently chair of the department. He has advised over 50 PhD, thesis masters, and postdocs in chemical engineering, materials science, environmental engineering, and chemistry. He has authored over 150 articles and inventions in catalysis and frequently works with industrial partners. He is the current director of the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, a multidisciplinary catalysis center at Northwestern with over 75 years of history. He has been recognized for excellence in education including the Mashiro and Eiko Meshii Award for design research and education.