Description:

Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) Seminar Series

Friday, February 7, 2025 | 12-1pm CT
Ryan Hall, 4003 | 2190 Campus Drive (Virtual Option via Zoom)
Lunch provided

Join the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) for the Seminar Series. Hear from a postdoctoral scholar during a presentation. This month's speaker is R. Mohan Sankaran.

About the Presentation

Speaker: R. Mohan Sankaran

Title: "Plasma Electrochemistry for Low Temperature, Sustainable Chemical Transformation"

Ionized gases or plasmas possess a unique chemical environment, characterized by the coupling of electricity to electrons to create highly energetic and reactive gaseous species. Recent advances in the generation of non-thermal plasmas, where the background gas is at much lower temperature than the electrons, at atmospheric pressure or higher, has attracted interest for chemical transformation. Potential advantages include the ability to activate very stable bonds, such as molecular nitrogen, enhance the catalytic activity of cheaper and more abundant catalysts or avoid catalysts altogether, intermittent operability, and overall, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by driving chemical reactions at near room temperature using more sustainable feedstocks and only electricity from renewable sources.

Our group has recently been studying and developing a plasma electrochemical process in which one of the metal electrodes in contact with a solution is replaced by a gas discharge. In contrast to conventional electrochemistry, species formed from gas-phase reactions can interact with species in solution. In this talk, I will discuss two examples. One is the conversion of molecular nitrogen and water to fixed nitrogen products such as ammonia and nitrates. Two is carbon-carbon coupling reactions of carbonyl groups on aromatic substrates. I will share our efforts to understand the plasma-driven mechanisms and address scientific issues such as reaction selectivity and mass transport limitations.

The mission of the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) is to promote interdisciplinary research fundamental to the discovery, synthesis, and understanding of catalysts and catalytic reactions essential to modern society. As a part of the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, CCSS applies fundamental advances in catalysis science towards applications in alternative fuels, abatement of harmful emissions, resource recovery concepts, new processing routes, and many other strategies towards making chemicals more sustainable.