Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Stephanie Kwon is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering department at Colorado School of Mines. Her research interest centres on heterogeneous catalysis and sustainability. She brings together cutting-edge research tools, including in-situ spectroscopy, microkinetic modeling, and density functional theory calculations, to understand surface reactions at a molecular-level. In doing so, she aims to tackle our current energy and environmental problems by providing novel catalytic systems with improved energy and atomic efficiency. Her current research projects include CO2 conversion, low temperature H2O electrolysis for H2 production, biomass conversion (via aldol condensation catalysis), benzene alkylation, and alkene oxidation catalysis. Before joining CSM, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Find out more about Stephanie’s group on their webpage

Read Stephanie’s Emerging Investigator article ‘Theoretical assessments of Pd–PdO phase transformation and its impacts on H₂O₂ synthesis and decomposition pathways‘, DOI: 10.1039/D3CY00404J

1. How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

We truly enjoyed the process. The editors were able to find us reviewers who provided us with useful comments. The turnover was quick and efficient, which we greatly appreciated.

 2. What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

I feel that now is a very interesting time to do research in heterogeneous catalysis.  We see lots of changes in the field with new emerging concepts and technologies, including the source of energies that we use to activate bonds in chemical conversions. Sustainability has become one of the major tasks within society, and we are part of those efforts. My research group is excited to contribute to those efforts and make changes in the way we do chemical transformations.

3. Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I learned that academic careers are much more than research; it is more about teaching, mentoring, and writing. Knowing your own personality and priorities in your life can help you to decide your career paths. That being said, I encourage my students to have broader experiences in teaching, mentoring, writing, and presenting early on in their career. These “soft” skills, often neglected in grad schools, are sometime more important in becoming successful, especially in academia (but probably in other jobs too). 

Matteo Cargnello received his Ph.D. in Nanotechnology in 2012 at the University of Trieste, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Fornasiero. He was then a post-doctoral scholar in the Chemistry Department at the University of Pennsylvania with Prof. Christopher B. Murray before joining the Faculty at Stanford University in January 2015. He is currently Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering and Vance D. and Arlene C. Coffman Faculty Scholar. Dr. Cargnello is the recipient of several awards including the Sloan Fellowship in 2018, the Mitsui Chemicals Catalysis Science Award for Creative Work in 2020, and the Early Career Award in Catalysis from the ACS Catalysis Division in 2022. The general goals of the research in the Cargnello Group pertain to solving energy and environmental challenges. The group focuses on capture and conversion of carbon dioxide, emission control and reduction of methane and hydrocarbon emissions in the atmosphere, sustainable chemical practices through electro- and photocatalysis, sustainable production of hydrogen, and chemical recycling of plastics. Find out more about the Cargnello Group on their webpage

Read Matteo’s Emerging Investigator article ‘Understanding the geometric and basicity effects of organic polymer modifiers on Ru/TiO₂ catalysts for CO₂ hydrogenation to hydrocarbons‘, DOI: 10.1039/D2CY01596J

1.  How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

Catalysis Science & Technology is a journal with the most exciting, deep fundamental and applied work in catalysis where it is possible to deeply learn about a catalytic process or phenomenon. I enjoyed publishing here our detailed work on fundamental structure-property relationships in hybrid catalysts, and I will continue to consider this journal as the prominent venue for careful and impactful catalysis work.

2. What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

I am excited about the many possibilities that these hybrid systems can offer in directing selectivity in catalytic processes. We only just started learning about their properties for CO2 hydrogenation, and there are many other reactions and materials systems that we want to investigate. The space is large, so are the possibilities.

3. In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

How to control selectivity in catalytic transformations by tuning and controlling secondary interactions beyond adsorption binding strength on a specific active site. In other words, active site control beyond binding site.

4. Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Ask yourself the right questions, and spend most of your time refining the question rather than looking for the answer.

Siwei Li obtained his PhD in physical chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Ma Ding from Peking University in China in 2019. He used to work in Harbin Institute Technology as an assistant professor and then became a professor in Xi’an Jiaotong University since Jan. 2022. He has studied and developed heterogeneous catalysts related to energy and environment, such as CO2 hydrogenation and electrocatalytic/photocatalytic water splitting. He is interested in tuning the coordination environment of atomically dispersed catalysts and clusters.

Read Siwei’s Emerging Investigator Series article, “Chitosan-derived carbon supported CoO combined with CdS facilitates visible light catalytic hydrogen evolution“, DOI 10.1039/D2CY01962K.

How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

As influenced by Prof. Ma Ding, my advisor, I have liked CST since I was a PhD student. I think CST is a high-impact journal in the field of catalysis.

Peter Deuss completed his studies at the University of Amsterdam, NL and thereafter joined the group of Paul Kamer at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK as a PhD student working on bioinspired catalysis. He obtained his degree in 2011, moving on to work on bioconjugation technology development at the MRC UK, Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge in the group of Mike Gait. In 2013, he moved to the University of Groningen where, after post-doctoral work in the groups of Katalin Barta and Erik Heeres working on the catalytic conversion of renewable resources to chemicals, he started in 2016 as a tenure track assistant professor at the chemical engineering department of the Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG). He recently got promoted to Associate Professor Catalytic Processing of Sustainable Resources.

Read his open access Emerging Investigator article “Benign catalytic oxidation of potato starch using a homogeneous binuclear manganese catalyst and hydrogen peroxide“, DOI: 10.1039/D2CY01629J, and read more about his work in the interview below.

How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

I consider Catalysis Science & Technology an excellent place for publishing catalysis research. It is a well-respected journal that includes a great mix of fundamental as well as applied catalysis research.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

My biggest excitement comes from seeing young researchers grow into a topic and see them often surpass me on knowledge on specific aspects. Being part of this growth as a person and as a researcher brings a lot of satisfaction.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

In relation to the catalysis for conversion of renewable resources, one of the key aspects is the integration of novel catalytic methodology into well established processes and how these should evolve to allow for fundamentally more sustainable and green chemistry to be implemented.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Ensure you keep an interest in science beyond your field as it is at the interfaces that the most exciting and impactful developments take place.

Find out more about his research at the University of Groningen on twitter (@univgroningen) or Linked in.

Titel Jurca obtained his B.Sc. at the University of Ottawa where he was first introduced to catalysis research in Deryn Fogg’s group, and at the University of Windsor working for Doug Stephan on FLPs. He returned to the University of Ottawa for his Ph.D. with Darrin Richeson on group 13 coordination chemistry. In 2012 he joined Ian Manners at the University of Bristol as a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow to work on main-group polymers. In 2015 he returned to North America to work in Tobin Marks’ group at Northwestern University on projects ranging from inorganic coordination compounds, to atomic layer deposition and heterogeneous catalysis. In 2017 he began his independent career at the University of Central Florida. His group works at the intersection of small molecules and materials chemistry to create new catalyst systems

Read his Emerging Investigator article “Robust palladium catalysts on nickel foam for highly efficient hydrogenations” and read more about his work in the interview below:

How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

Catalysis Science & Technology is the perfect venue for this type of work – spanning materials science to catalytic application. The journal has an excellent reputation in the catalysis community, a great diversity of published research spanning all areas relevant to catalysis, and a global reach.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

Our goal is to discover and develop increasingly complex hierarchical catalyst systems based on monolith cores. By developing hierarchical systems we incorporate multiple components and begin to delineate their influence/contribution to the whole system and how that correlates to catalyst performance in terms of reusability, reactivity, and selectivity. This is very exciting because we have a great deal of components we can combine to create these new systems, with the possibility of discovering many new and exciting catalysts. The most challenging aspect is also figuring out exactly how all of these components interact. The other difficulty is characterization of monolith systems and delineation of reaction mechanisms.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

Just in the past few years we have made great strides in better understanding catalyst-support relationships. As we work with increasingly more complex catalyst systems, we now need to understand how all of the components are influencing each other. Along those lines, we still need to better understand preparative route to catalyst property relationships, even starting out from molecular precursors – for example we use atomic layer deposition as part of catalyst design and we need to understand what the impact of molecular precursor choice is on the resulting catalyst performance. Finally, we should strive to enhance reproducibility, which has always been a difficult topic in heterogeneous catalysis.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Your greatest legacy is the success of the people you mentor. Do your best to prioritize those that have taken a chance on joining your group.

Keep up to date with Titel and his research on his lab website.

Yi-Hsuan Lai grew up in Taiwan and obtained her BSc in Chemical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in 2007 and her MSc in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 2009. In 2011 she moved to the UK to pursue her PhD in solar water splitting in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Erwin Reisner. After receiving her PhD in 2015, she moved back to Taiwan and started her independent career in 2016 as an Assistant Professor at National Sun Yat-sen University. Since 2019, she has been an Assistant Professor at NCKU in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. Her research interests include photoelectrochemistry, electrocatalysis, and sustainability. Her research group currently focuses on synthesising effective and robust materials and selective catalysts based on Earth-abundant elements for artificial photosynthesis and (photo)electrochemical organic waste valorisation. Find out more about Yi-Hsuan’s research on her webpage

Read Yi-Hsuan Lai’s Emerging Investigator Series article, ‘Selective production of formate over a CuO electrocatalyst by electrochemical and photoelectrochemical biomass valorisation‘, DOI: 10.1039/D2CY00950A

1. How do you feel about Catalysis Science & Technology as a place to publish research on this topic?

Catalysis Science & Technology is a renowned journal with high standards in the field of catalysis. I am, therefore, very grateful to have the chance to engage in the Emerging Investigator Series of Catalysis Science & Technology.

2. What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment and what do you find most challenging about your research?

Discovering a selective catalyst made of only earth-abundant elements for (photo)electrochemically organic waste valorisation and uncovering the corresponding mechanisms are the most exciting aspects of our work. We currently make more efforts on the rational design of earth-abundant electrocatalysts for achieving higher catalytic activity and stability.

3. Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Stay true to yourself and enjoy science despite obstacles and challenges.