Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering Graduate Seminar Series
About the event
The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering is hosting a seminar presented by Simon Bare, Distinguished Staff Scientist, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), SLAC National Accelerator National Laboratory, Menlo Park CA.
Simon received his PhD from the University of Liverpool in 1982, and then held postdoctoral appointments at Cornell University (Wilson Ho) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Gabor Somorjai). He then moved to the dark side, and took a position in R&D with The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, MI for 10 years during which time he has his first experience of using synchrotrons for catalyst characterization. He then moved to UOP, a Honeywell Company, where he spend the next 19 years, and built up a reputation for in-situ and operando characterization of catalysts using primarily x-ray absorption spectroscopy. After spending so much of his time at synchrotrons, he decided he should spend more of his time there, so took a position as a Distinguished Staff Scientist at SSRL at SLAC National Accelerator Lab in 2016. He is currently leading an effort there called, Co-ACCESS (Consortium for Operando and Advanced Catalyst Characterization via Electronic Spectroscopy and Structure).
X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Heterogeneous Catalysis: a Retrospective and Perspective
New in-situ experimental capabilities are the lifeblood of a catalysis-related synchrotron beam line. New capabilities allow new experiments to be performed, and new information and new understanding to be gained. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has been a foundational capability at synchrotrons for over 30 years – but what, if anything, has really changed? This talk will review highlight some of the new synchrotron catalyst characterization capabilities that have been implemented, or are under development at SSRL. Topics to be covered include: Continuous/quick scanning & remote access; Advanced spectroscopy: HERFD XAFS; In-situ multi-modal catalyst characterization at high pressure; Long term catalyst deactivation; FTIR/XAFS; Characterization at different length scales; and Theory.