CHE 598 Seminar: “Surface Engineering of Fe-based Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenolysis of Phenolics: From Reaction Mechanism to Catalyst Design”

About the event

Presenter:  Jianghao Zhang, VSCEB Ph.D. Candidate

Jianghao Zhang received his bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology and his master’s degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In both degrees, he focused on the application of heterogeneous catalysis for abatement of environmental pollution, including the removal of indoor formaldehyde at ambient condition, hydrodechlorination of trichloroethylene, etc. In the fall of 2015, Jianghao joined Washington State University to pursue his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering under Prof. Yong Wang. Jianghao’s research focuses on understanding the reaction mechanism and designing the Fe-based catalysts in selective hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived phenols to arenes.

Surface Engineering of Fe-based Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenolysis of Phenolics: From Reaction Mechanism to Catalyst Design

Energy shortage and stringent environmental regulations have initiated great efforts to explore renewable energy carriers such as bio-oil. One promising way for bio-oil valorization is to reduce/eliminate the oxygen content via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), producing valuable fuels and chemicals. However, most catalysts are not selective in HDO of aromatic oxygenates, having the tendency to saturate aromatic rings and thus consuming excess hydrogen. In this current talk, we will first present the unique property of oxophilic Fe and the mechanism of phenolic HDO over Fe-based catalyst, which shows the tautomerization pathway is the main reason for ring saturation. Based on this fundamental understanding, we designed the surface modification and synthesized a novel Fe-based catalyst that was able to inhibit the tautomerization of phenol, such that the high arene selectivity was achieved. Then we took the next step to enhance the reactivity by introducing a promoter that improved the reducibility of catalyst surface. This talk will present a general approach to rational design of highly efficient catalysts for HDO of biomass-derived phenolics.