Alexandra Velian
University of Washington, WA·Chemistry
Catalysts that could turn abundant small molecules like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane and water into useful products would help with energy and environmental problems. Many industrial catalysts are solids whose most active spots are tiny defects, such as edges or irregular sites.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
- Topics
catalysis
transition metal chalcogenide clusters
metal clusters
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Synthesize atomically precise transition metal chalcogenide clusters with well-defined edge catalytic sites that mimic defect sites in solid heterogeneous catalysts.
- Determine how structural and electronic communication between catalytic metal centers and their cluster support affects reactivity, selectivity and efficiency, using spectroscopy and computational modeling.
- Understand how metal–support interactions change metal–substrate binding throughout catalytic cycles, to guide catalysts that convert small molecules such as CO2, N2, methane and water.
More about the research
These defects are hard to study because each one is slightly different. This project builds molecule-sized models of these sites so chemists can study exactly how they work and design better catalysts.
Why it matters
The project could lead to more efficient and selective catalysts for converting carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane and water into valuable chemicals and fuels. This may help address global energy and environmental challenges. Understanding metal–support interactions at the atomic level could guide chemists and industry in designing better catalysts.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Chenjie Zeng
University of Florida, FL·Chemistry
Control the surface structures of atomically precise II-VI semiconductor nanoclusters by tailoring the metal-ligand complexes used in cation exchange, the reaction that swaps metal ions inside an intact cluster framework.
Phillip Christopher
University of California-Santa Barbara, CA·Chemistry
Determine the experimental conditions under which individual adsorbed molecules on metal nanoparticle surfaces can be sensed by in situ atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy using newly developed high-sensitivity electron detectors.
Dianne Xiao
University of Washington, WA·Chemistry·Early-career
Develop a templating strategy to precisely position multiple metal centers and organic functional groups within metal–organic framework pores, giving uniform, tunable active sites on a solid support.
The school
University of Washington: 81 labs on PI Pages, $1.7B a year on research, 694 research doctorates a year.
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