This George Olah Award address will present some new design approaches in the hydrocarbon processing research and CO2 research carried out in our laboratory with my coworkers and collaborators. These include (1) adsorptive desulfurization of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels with sulfur-selective adsorbents, catalytic adsorptive desulfurization and light-enhanced adsorptive desulfurization; (2) adsorptive CO2 separation with molecular basket sorbents consisting of functional polymers embedded in nano-porous materials which has been demonstrated at pilot plant level; (3) catalytic CO2 conversion to fuels and chemicals with new bimetallic catalysts for CO2 to lower olefins, C5+ hydrocarbons and methanol and a new tri-reforming process for producing industrially useful syngas using CO2 in flue gas; (4) catalysis in fuel processing for fuel cells including sulfur-tolerant reforming of liquid hydrocarbon fuels to syngas and bimetallic catalysts for oxygen-enhanced water gas shift for more efficient H2 production; (5) enhancing thermal stability of jet fuels using cyclic structures rich in coal-derived liquids, by developing sulfur-tolerant catalysts for low-temperature hydrotreating and shape-selective hydrogenation of two-ring aromatics and isomerization; and (6) novel catalytic routes for petrochemicals and value-added polycyclic chemicals such as 2,6-dialkylnapthalene, 4,4-dialkylbiphenyl, and cis-decahydronaphthalene for advanced engineering plastics. In keeping with the spirit of the late professor George Olah’s research on carbon recycling, more discussion will focus on adsorptive CO2 separation using nano-porous materials and catalytic CO2 conversion to chemicals and fuels including methanol.

Award Address (George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry sponsored by the George A. Olah Award Endowment). Some new design approaches to adsorptive and catalytic processing for cleaner hydrocarbon fuels, CO2 capture, and CO2 conversion to chemicals and fuels

2019 Spring National Meeting

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