Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Blog

Dirk Ziegenbalg studied chemistry at Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany from where he graduated with a PhD in Industrial Chemistry in 2013. In 2012 he moved to University Stuttgart, Germany to establish a junior research group at the Institute of Chemical Technology. He holds a M. Sc. degree in Economics from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany. In 2018 he was appointed as a Professor at the Institute of Chemical Engineering of Ulm University, Germany. His research interests focus on photochemical reaction engineering at the interface between chemical engineering, microreaction technology and photochemistry. Follow Dirk’s research group on Twitter to find out more

Read Dirk’s Emerging Investigator article, ‘Photochlorination of toluene – the thin line between intensification and selectivity. Part 1: intensification and effect of operation conditions‘, DOI: 10.1039/D0RE00263A

1. How do you feel about RCE as a place to publish research on this topic?

RCE’s focus on the interface between chemistry and engineering is actually identical to my research interests. It has always been and still is a great challenge to communicate between the two disciplines, but such interdisciplinary research adds significant value to the generation of knowledge. A journal dealing with such interdisciplinary topics is very attractive and meets the research needs, which is reflected in the high quality of the published articles.

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

The increasing research activities in the field of light-driven reactions, both at the fundamental and application level, are currently creating a very stimulating research environment. Bridging the gap between laboratory and industrial applications is very interesting, as there is a plethora of different aspects that need to be addressed. We have recently found that controlling the availability of light is not only a means to control the reaction rate, but also a powerful strategy to increase the efficiency of photoreactions and to switch between reaction pathways. I’m very excited to see how this how potent this strategy will be, The most challenging aspect of photoreaction engineering research is the strong coupling between reactions and transport processes, which requires extensive studies to unravel the underlying fundamentals.

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

Objective and comprehensive documentation of experimental results and details is required to reduce the barriers to transferring laboratory results to industrial application. This explicitly includes details of the photoreactors and light sources. The development of reliable methods for measuring photons in (large) photoreactors is of great importance in this context. Scale-up and transfer strategies can only be derived with such comprehensive data sets. In this context, well-founded techno-economic evaluations of comparable light-driven and thermal synthesis routes are required to identify the bottlenecks. The impact of dynamic irradiation, either caused by changing environmental conditions for solar photochemistry or imposed by the operator when using artificial light sources, on reaction performance should be understood to develop appropriate control strategies and enable efficient use of photons.

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

Stay curious and challenge yourself with new topics throughout your career. Go beyond the mainstream. New topics will be more challenging at first. But they will pay off in the long run.

Dr. Kumud Malika Tripathi is a Ramalingaswami faculty/Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Visakhapatnam India. She received her PhD in Chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2013. Before joining IIPE, she held several positions including Assistant Professor in Gachon University, South Korea; postdoctoral fellow at the University of South Brittany, Lorient, France, IIT Kanpur, India, and Gachon University. Dr. Kumud has published more than 60 publications in highly reputed journals, which have been cited over 3300 times with an H-index of 38. She has five successful grants. She received the prestigious Ramalingaswai Re-entry Fellowship and award. Her research activities include the green synthesis of multifunctional nanomaterials for energy, healthcare and environmental applications. Kumud works at the interface of chemistry, material science and biology, exploring nanomaterial based new strategies for environmental monitoring and remediation, self-recharge power unit, energy storage devices, CO2 capture and conversion, flexible electronics and photocatalytic water splitting for green hydrogen production. She is also focusing on fabrication of nanomaterials based sensors for non-invasive disease diagnosis.

Read Kumud’s Emerging Investigator Article: ‘Structural Control in Nano-assembly of Tungsten and Molybdenum Dithiolene Complex Analog’, DOI: 10.1039/D2RE00205A

How do you feel about RCE as a place to publish research on this topic?

Inter and multidisciplinary approach for research is the present need of time. That can provide the solutions to present and coming scientific challenges. I did my Ph.D. in chemistry and postdoc research in chemical engineering. As an academician, publishing papers in peer-reviewed-reputed journals is quite important. In RCE, publishing is recommendable as it adheres to the engineering aspects to scale up the processes.

Further, it has a rigorously peer-reviewed RCE, an interdisciplinary journal that merges the broad areas of chemical technology with chemical science to derive solutions for societal issues. Performing the experiments in laboratories is entirely different from the industrial scale. So, it’s a suitable place for researchers like me, those working in a multidisciplinary approach and interface of science and technology.

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

As a young researcher training undergraduate and graduate minds is the most exciting and interesting aspect of my work at the movement. I am stressing about how I can make my research useful for a common person.

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

During a social gathering or interacting with common peoples including my relatives. The most common interactive question is, “what is your research about?”. To explain the research to a common person and make them understand the research topic is a fundamental question, as per my opinion. If I can explain my research output to a common man and if they find it interesting and valuable, it is the most relaxing thought for me.

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

Everyone must be open to new learning skills, gaining experiences from students, colleagues, and co-workers, and growing their academic circle and collaborations. The road for the scientists is quite bumpy but it is worth the journey.

Follow Kumud and her research group on these social media;

Facebook

Linkedin

Researchgate

Dr. Raju Kumar Gupta is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. He received his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from National University of Singapore in 2010 and postdoctoral training at Nanyang Technological University Singapore, prior to starting his independent career in 2012. Dr. Gupta’s research group focuses on solar energy conversion and utilization for environmental and energy applications. His current research interests are photocatalysis for water remediation and CO₂ capture & conversion to fuels, hybrid perovskite solar cells and energy storage devices. Dr. Gupta has been recipient of several fellowships and awards for his outstanding career in academic and research fields. He is an Editorial Board member of several international journals, as well as a member of scientific bodies. Dr. Gupta has authored more than 95 research articles in SCI journals, 3 patents, 3 books, 16 book chapters and guest edited special issues for several international journals.

Read his Emerging Investigator article “An activated carbon fiber supported Fe₂O₃@bismuth carbonate heterojunction for enhanced visible light degradation of emerging pharmaceutical pollutants” and read more about his in the interview below:

How do you feel about Reaction Chemistry & Engineering as a place to publish?

Reaction Chemistry & Engineering is an excellent place to publish high quality articles for newly design functional nanomaterials and their efficient utilization at the reactor scale for diverse applications in environmental remediation e.g., clean water, pollution abatement and beyond. I am honoured to share my research work.

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

My work focuses on maximizing charge carrier collection via interfacial tuning of the photocatalyst heterojunction immobilized over a flexible support (ACF) resulting in excellent photodegradation of targeted pollutant (antipyrine) under visible light irradiation. The challenge lies in how to control immobilization of the photocatalyst over ACF along with good stability of the photocatalyst under flow conditions.

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

Recently, the global community is paying more attention to environmental issues e.g., water shortage, air quality, climate change, microplastics and emerging pollutants. In my opinion, the most important question is developing low-cost, environmentally friendly functional materials and their effective utilization at the reactor scale for the rapidly expanding multidisciplinary environmental research field.

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

Select a research problem which you are most passionate about, give your best and learn from failures without getting discouraged.

Keep up to date with Raju and his research by following him on Twitter @rajukgupta and by connecting with him on LinkedIn

Dr. M. Ali Haider has completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia and B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. He has joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Delhi in 2013. He visited the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation at the University of Delaware on a ‘Bioenergy-Award for Cutting Edge Research’ Fellowship sponsored by the Indo–US Science and Technology Forum. His research interests are focused on experimental and density functional theory (DFT) based theoretical heterogeneous catalysis applied to the development of biorenewable fuels/chemicals, fuel cells and batteries. He has received the ‘Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam HPC Award for R & D in HPC Applications’ by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Intel. In addition, he is a recipient of the Amar Dye-Chem Award for ‘Excellence in Basic Research and Development in Chemical Engineering’ by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, DAE-BRNS Young Scientist Award, Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award, Institution of Engineers (India) Young Engineers Award. His research work published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A is included in Editor’s Choice Collection on Machine Learning for Materials Innovation and he has received a certificate of appreciation from the Royal Society of Chemistry as highly cited author in the Energy & Sustainability portfolio of journals. At IIT Delhi, his contributions in teaching and research are noted at several occasions as ‘Industry Relevant Best PhD Thesis Supervision’, ‘Teaching Excellence Award’ and ‘Early Career Research Award’. Currently, he is serving as a member of Indian National Young Academy of Sciences to popularize science education at various forums in India.

Read his Emerging Investigator article “Tracing the reactivity of single atom alloys for ethanol dehydrogenation using ab initio simulations” and read more about his in the interview below:

How do you feel about Reaction Chemistry & Engineering as a place to publish?

Our group is passionate about applying the concepts in reaction engineering and catalysis to provide sustainable solutions for energy and environment. Being an amalgamation of both chemistry and engineering, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering provides a great platform for us to explain the functioning of catalytic materials at the molecular level so as to provide an engineering solution. Also, we look forward to see our work peer reviewed by highly experienced reviewers at Reaction Chemistry & Engineering.

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

We are working at multiple levels in heterogenous catalysis and reaction engineering by combining theoretical knowledge with experiments. In catalytic transformation of biomass-derived platform chemicals, we have been focused on developing new routes for integrated bio and chemo-catalysis. Here we have identified the interaction of biogenic impurities with the heterogenous catalyst as a challenge, which may be circumvented by rational catalyst design with a mechanistic insight on catalyst deactivation.

Another opportunity is foreseen in complex reaction environment, where engineering the solvation environment is helping us to achieve desired reaction rates in bio-renewable processing. Theoretical tools to tailor the catalyst and reaction environment is augmenting our work in two ways. For one, density functional theory calculations are leading a mechanistic rationale for the reaction and catalyst design. For two, ab initio microkinetic modelling combined with machine learning approaches is helping us to fast-track the catalyst screening process for experimental testing. This mechanistic approach on rational catalyst design is further extended in our work to study reactions on single atom alloys and nanoclusters. In both the cases, we are observing the breakdown of some of the fundamental understandings, which have been guiding catalysis on bulk materials. This is leading us to think catalysis at the atomic scale, step by step, mechanistically and rationally, for the research coordinates ahead in our academic life.

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

Reactions conducted on single atom catalysts and nanoscale clusters are opening a new window for us to look at catalysis and reaction engineering with an entirely different lens. We realise that this is only a beginning and a lot to be uncovered. The major challenges remain are the synthesis, stability and scale-up of catalytic processes using such materials. However, at a fundamental level, the discussion on reaction mechanisms and catalyst active sites are engaging the inquisitive mind. Theoretical tools and specifically machine learning methods are creating hope for fast-track solutions. However, a caution has to be emphasized here on correct interpretations of results and the choice of dataset. This is elucidated in our paper on ‘Tracing the reactivity of single atom alloys for ethanol dehydrogenation using ab initio simulations’, published in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering.

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

A right mix of motivation and patience holds the key in research. Solutions may come quick or may take a long time. However, success only depends on perseverance for a long period in research, where one is consistently contributing, solving deeper mysteries of a scientific problem. This may appear an age old recipe and it will remain true for many more generations of scientists who are committed to the scholarly pursuits.

Keep up to date with M. Ali Haider and his research by visiting his group website, the REC Lab

It is our great pleasure to announce Dr Carmine D’Agostino (University of Manchester, UK) as the winner of the 2020 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award.

This is in recognition of his leadership of the paper:

In situ high-pressure ¹³C/¹H NMR reaction studies of benzyl alcohol oxidation over a Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst
by Carmine D’Agostino, Mick D. Mantle and Lynn F. Gladden
React. Chem. Eng., 2020, 5, 1053-1057
DOI: 10.1039/c9re00489k

PDF Infographic

Please join us in congratulating Dr D’Agostino!

About the winner

Carmine D’Agostino received his BEng and MEng in Chemical Engineering at the Universita’ di Napoli “Federico II” and a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Lynn Gladden. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at The University of Manchester. His research focuses on diffusion, dynamics and adsorption of complex fluids and fluids within porous structures, with applications in catalysis, sustainable process engineering and CO₂ capture and conversion. He received several awards, including the Young Scientist Award at the International Congress on Catalysis, the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Emerging Investigator, the Junior Moulton medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and a prestigious Junior Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge.

An interview with Dr Carmine D’Agostino

Can you briefly summarise this paper?

This work investigates high-pressure aerobic catalytic oxidation reactions over heterogeneous catalyst surfaces using in-situ NMR spectroscopy for monitoring non-invasively reaction kinetics, diffusion and adsorption.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Traditional catalytic studies focus on the analysis of reaction products and kinetics carried out by sampling the bulk liquid surrounding the catalyst particles and using an off-line analytical tool, such as a GC for example. In addition, aspects such as diffusion and adsorption are often neglected, yet in practical terms are very important aspects to consider when engineering a catalytic process. Using our in-situ NMR approach, we are able to detect directly and in real-time what is happening inside the nanopores of the heterogeneous catalyst used to catalyse the oxidation reaction, hence we obtain intra-particle information on the reaction. In particular, we can probe the evolution of reaction products as they form inside the catalyst pores and, in addition to that, monitor mass transport by diffusion and adsorption phenomena, giving a comprehensive picture of the physico-chemical phenomena within the reaction system at a pore-scale level.

Among the main challenges encountered, one was certainly the design of a suitable high-pressure reactor for NMR studies, which had to be made without metals in order to be compatible with the magnetic fields involved in the experiments. In addition, we also needed to think about detection and quantification of NMR signal, which was not straightforward to do when having reactive fluids in porous catalysts.

This proof-of-concept demonstrates that it is possible to use NMR for monitoring high-pressure catalytic reactions and this can be very beneficial, for example it is non-invasive and we can potentially detect products or intermediates ‘trapped’ inside the catalyst pores and therefore not detected by analysis of bulk fluid.

Where do you see the future of your field of work in the next five years?

Our work was focused on a proof-of-concept using a relatively simple catalytic reaction, an oxidation of an alcohol. The application of the same concept to more complex reaction pathways could certainly be part of future work in this area. There are for example more complex oxidation processes, such as those involving glycerol as the feedstock, whereby product distribution is complex and many of these products can remain within the catalyst due to slow diffusion and desorption. Using in-situ NMR in such cases could certainly provide new insights into these systems. Another area of interest could be on the study of gas-phase reaction systems, such as methanation and CO₂ conversion.

How do you feel about Reaction Chemistry & Engineering as a place to publish research on this topic?

Reaction Chemistry & Engineering was indeed the ideal journal for this work, which has strong chemistry components but also encompasses key aspects of chemical and reaction engineering, for example the investigation of mass transport and adsorption. I think the journal does excellently in bridging aspects of chemistry and engineering and is the ideal forum for many inter-disciplinary works in these areas.

How do you like to spend your time when not doing research?

Apart from my academic work, I enjoy playing musical instruments such as piano or electric guitar (I used to play at departmental annual dinners as well!), watch science fiction and fantasy movies, spending time with my family, hiking and walking in natural reserves, and well, I still play videogames sometimes, especially those that reminds me of my childhood! I also enjoy cooking and making cakes, I can make a very nice and authentic Italian Tiramisu’ and even some complex recipes of the region where I am from, the Campania region of Italy.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom for those beginning their research career?

I think the main key drivers to success in research are enthusiasm, motivation and curiosity. There are of course other important skills such as organisational and communication skills, but without those underpinning drivers, I think they are not enough. Research work can be quite frustrating sometimes, especially when plans are not working and everything seems to be going in the wrong direction. I remember often during my PhD when experiments were not working and I used to feel very frustrated and demoralised. What made me go ahead was exactly the enthusiasm I had about the work I was doing and the curiosity to find out or discover more about the field of research I was working on, and I try to transmit these values also to my PhD students.

About the award

The aim of the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award is to recognise a researcher in the earlier stages of their research career for their leadership in reporting original research published in the journal.

The journal Editorial Board award this prize annually, selecting the paper which they find to demonstrate the highest quality of research, as well as importance to the advancement of the field of reaction engineering, out of all qualifying papers published in the journal each year.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this award, the candidate must:

• Be listed as a corresponding author on the paper
• Currently be an independent research leader
• Have either a) received their PhD on or after 1^st January of the year 12 years prior to the award year (2008 for prize year 2020) or b) spent no more than an equivalent amount of time in research when taking into account any career breaks.
• Not be a previous winner of this award

Selection Process

In order to choose the winner of the 2020 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award, a shortlist of articles that were published throughout the year were selected by the editorial office and then subsequently assessed by the journal’s Editorial Board members. The winner was selected based upon the significance, impact and quality of the research.

Prize

The winner of the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award will receive an engraved plaque, a bespoke infographic from Impact Science for the winning paper and £500 cash award that would be used for conference travel/attendance of their choice.

To have your paper considered for the 2021 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award, indicate when prompted upon submission of your revised manuscript if a corresponding author of the paper fulfils these criteria. Multiple eligible authors of a winning paper will share the prize fund equally. You can contact the editors at reactionchemeng-rsc@rsc.org if you have any queries.

In celebration, we have collated some of their recently published work in RSC journals to introduce our community to their areas of research and expertise. This papers in this collection are either Open Access, or free for anyone to read until 1st December 2021.

Read their articles here 

Read on for more information about our new Editorial Board members below:

Francesca Paradisi

Professor of Sustainable Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, University of Bern
Switzerland

Prof. Paradisi graduated in Chemistry from the University of Bologna were she remained also for her PhD in synthetic organic chemistry. In 2002 she joined the group of Prof. Engel at University College Dublin for her post doc and started working in the area of Biocatalysis. After a brief stint in Enzolve Technologies, a spinoff company, in 2005, she got her first academic position in the School of Chemistry in UCD in 2006 where she remained till 2016. She was recruited then by the University of Nottingham as Associate Professor in Biocatalysis and promoted to Full Professor in 2019. In the same year however, she was offered the Chair of Sustainable Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Bern and relocated to Switzerland. She is the recipient of the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Award 2021 jointly sponsored by the Swiss Chemical Society and Syngenta for her ground-breaking work in developing eco-friendly and ultra-efficient biotransformations for the synthesis of high-value chemicals, dramatically increasing the applicability of biocatalysis.

As a Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Associate Editor, Professor Francesca Paradisi will provide expertise in particular in the fields of:

• Biocatalysis
• Enzyme Engineering

Group website

Richard A. Bourne

Professor of Digital Chemical Manufacturing
Institute of Process Research and Development (IPRD)
University of Leeds, UK

Richard A Bourne is currently Professor of Digital Chemical Manufacturing at the University of Leeds based at the Institute of Process Research and Development (IPRD) at Leeds, working on rapid process development and continuous flow chemistry. His research group is particularly focused on rapid optimisation of pharmaceutical processes using automated systems. Richard is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair working on Digital Discovery and Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals.

The Bourne group works on the development of new sustainable processes with focus on continuous flow routes to pharmaceutical and fine chemical products. His group is based within the Institute of Process Research (IPRD) at Leeds and he is particularly interested in the use of automated flow systems combining online analysis, feedback control and evolutionary algorithms to provide process understanding and optimisation. This particularly interdisciplinary research at the interface between Chemistry and Chemical Engineering aims to develop processes at laboratory, pilot plant and manufacturing scales.

He is leading a 4 year EPSRC project ‘Cognitive Chemical Manufacturing’ that is developing an Industry 4.0 approach coupling machine learning algorithms to a cyber-physical reactor platform.

Group website

Heather J. Kulik

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering
MIT, USA

Heather J. Kulik is an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at MIT. She received her B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Cooper Union in 2004 and her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT in 2009. She completed postdocs at Lawrence Livermore (2010) and Stanford (2010−2013), prior to returning to MIT as a faculty member in 2013 and receiving tenure in 2021.

Her work has been recognized by a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (2012-2017), Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2018), DARPA Young Faculty Award (2018), AAAS Marion Milligan Mason Award (2019-2020), NSF CAREER Award (2019), the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research “Class of Influential Researchers”, the ACS COMP Division OpenEye Award for Outstanding Junior Faculty in Computational Chemistry, the JPCB Lectureship (ACS PHYS), the DARPA Director’s Fellowship (2020), MSDE Outstanding Early-Career Paper Award (2021), and a Sloan Fellowship (2021).

Research in the Kulik group leverages computational modelling to aid the discovery of new materials and mechanisms. The group uses first-principles modelling to unearth fundamental aspects of structure-property relationships in catalysts and materials. By taking a computational approach, they carry out studies that allow them to make connections across a wide range of catalytic systems from biological enzymes to emerging heterogeneous single-atom catalysts. They develop computational software and machine learning models that accelerate the discovery of new materials and design rules. This approach enables the prediction of new materials properties in seconds, the exploration of million-compound design spaces, and the identification of design rules and exceptions that go beyond intuition. To ensure the predictive power of their approach, the group develops new methods to increase the accuracy of density functional theory especially for materials with challenging electronic structure such as transition metal complexes and solids.

Group website

Please join us in welcoming our new Associate Editor and Editorial Board members!

Ulrich Hintermair studied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Würzburg and Lyon, finishing with a Master project at the University of St Andrews. After a PhD on continuous-flow catalysis using supercritical fluids with Walter Leitner at Aachen, he was a Humboldt fellow with Bob Crabtree at Yale University. In 2013, he started his independent career at the CSCT in Bath where he currently holds a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. Besides fundamental coordination chemistry and organometallic synthesis, he is most interested in finding out how catalytic reactions work, for which his team uses a combination of online and in-situ analytical techniques (see https://www.bath.ac.uk/research-facilities/dynamic-reaction-monitoring-facility/).

Read his Emerging Investigator article “Engineering Aspects of FlowNMR Spectroscopy Setups for Online Analysis of Solution-Phase Processes” and read more about him in the interview below:

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

I’m convinced that there are many exciting opportunities for “real life” analytics in a number of areas if one moves away from the old adapt-your-sample-to-the-analysis doctrine and starts modifying instruments to suit the application in question. A challenge in doing this is to assemble a team that includes instrument manufacturers that are open to the idea, but you’d be surprised what is possible if you find the right people.

Keep up to date with Ulrich and his research by finding him on Twitter (@HintermairLab & @DreamFacility)

Elizabeth J. Biddinger is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at The City College of New York, CUNY. Her research group focuses on green chemistry and energy applications including the electrification of chemical processes that transform wastes or renewable resources into valuable materials, chemicals or fuels for decarbonization and sustainability; and the use of ionic liquids as electrolytes in electrochemical systems for improved performance and safety. Prior to joining City College in 2012, she was a post-doctoral fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Biddinger received her PhD in chemical engineering in 2010 from The Ohio State University and her B.S. in chemical engineering in 2005 from Ohio University.

Read her Emerging Investigator article “Kinetics of furfural electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis in acidic media on copper” and read more about her in the interview below:

How do you feel about Reaction Chemistry & Engineering as a place to publish?

Our paper was on determining the mechanism and kinetics of the electrochemical hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived furfural to furfuryl alcohol and 2-methyl furan on copper in acidic electrolytes. Reaction Chemistry & Engineering was a great fit for this paper because we used traditional catalytic and reaction engineering methods to look at an electrochemical reaction. The topic fit the journal well and the readership will appreciate the techniques that we used. We hope that the readership agrees with us too!

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

I’m excited right now about all of the opportunities that exist to decarbonize and make more sustainable chemical manufacturing using electrochemical techniques. We are currently at a crossroads as a society with what to do about our CO2 emissions and our resource utilization. In other sectors such as transportation we are much further along in what solutions look like than where we are in chemical manufacturing. We have an opportunity to completely re-think how we make chemicals and fuels. The utilization of renewable electricity to power chemical processes such as electrochemical reactors is one such way that we can produce chemicals and fuels for the next era. To push the vision of decarbonizing chemical manufacturing forward, I am excited to be Deputy Director of the Center for Decarbonizing Chemical Manufacturing Using Sustainable Electrification (DC-MUSE) that has just formed. The biggest challenge to this vision is that we’ve been making chemicals and fuels the same way for more than a century. That’s a lot of inertia that we have to go against to make such a drastic change. Ultimately, I think the pressure to address CO2 emissions and sustainability will become enabling to new technologies.

Where does my research fit in with all of this specifically? My group focuses on the electrochemical reactions. We have to understand the behaviour of the electrochemical reactions to be able to design the reactors and implement them at scale. The fundamental knowledge we develop will be applied by others in implementation. The biggest challenge in our own research is making sure the tools we utilize will allow us to answer the questions about mechanisms, kinetics, parameter effects and so on when the reactions are complicated – multiple pathways, side reactions, etc. We’ve taken to methodically evaluating what the nuances of the reactions we are studying are and then are able to better control them to probe our specific questions at hand

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

Get engaged in your respective professional societies early. Volunteer for positions and activities. By doing this, you will develop your network quickly. It’s so great to be able to reach out to senior members of your field with questions or collaboration ideas and have them know who you are because of your society engagement. Society engagement is also a great place to meet fellow early careers scientists and engineers who may be going through the same things as you, getting started. In the end, it’s all very rewarding.

Keep up to date with Elizabeth and her research by following her on Twitter @EJBiddinger and connect with her on LinkedIn

Dr. Upendra Sharma started his independent research in the fall of 2014, and his group research focus involves transition-metal-catalyzed remote C-H activation/functionalization under thermal/light conditions. His group also works in the area of plant product chemistry. Mainly his group is looking for new antimalarial molecules either through metal-catalyzed modification of quinolines or from natural sources. In 2016, Dr. Sharma got the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award and Manjushree Pal Memorial Award for Best Oral Presentation from Ethanopharmacology Society of India, Kolkata in 2017. Currently, he is an Early Career Advisory Board member in the Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry. Currently, Dr. Sharma is editing an issue in Frontier in Chemistry on the special topic on C-H activation/functionalization. He has published >120 research articles in reputed international journals and filed four patents to date.

Read his Emerging Investigator article “α-Oxygenation of N-Aryl/Alky Heterocyclic Compounds via Ruthenium-Photocatalysis” and read more about him in the interview below:

How do you feel about Reaction Chemistry & Engineering as a place to publish?

It is a great experience to publish in RCE as this journal has a unique scope, and it’s always great to follow this journal as most of the published articles contain in-depth information on respective topics.

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

Selective functionalization of C-H bond in complex/natural molecules under photocatalytic conditions is most the exciting and challenging. Undoubtedly, we and others developed various catalytic methods, and the process is continuing, but applying these methods in a complex setup is always challenging.

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

Natural processes continuously happening in Mother Nature are complex and inspirational for synthetic chemists. So the central question I always ask is how we can mimic these reactions to synthesize valuable molecules?

Developing photocatalytic conditions for most challenging reactions like functionalization of complex/natural molecules is the major question we wish to address in the next 5-10 years.

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

Never follow any advice, just follow your inner voice and passion for research.

Keep up to date with Upendra and his research by visiting his group website here.