Invited seminar
Author: Dr Xiaolei Fan
Affiliation: University of Manchester
When: Friday, May 24, 2019 - 10:30 to 11:30
Where: Seminari primer pis, Edifici d'investigació 1
Presented by: Victor Sans
Abstract: 

Crystalline microporous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an important class of materials for both practical applications and scientific research. They have been constantly developed and researched for various applications, especially adsorption and catalysis, that address the great challenges of our society, e.g. global warming, environmental issues, sustainable production and renewable energy. In this talk, the recent development of strategies in Fan’s group regarding the MOFs catalysis and novel methods for making hierarchical zeolites will be presented. Specifically, (i) the development of novel non-thermal plasma (NTP) activation process for sustaining MOFs activity in the challenging catalytic water gas shift reaction1 and (ii) the invention of novel post-synthesis methods for producing zeolites (e.g. FAU Y and MFI ZSM-5) with superior mesoporosity.2 The relevant results highlight the practical solution to solve one of the fundamental stability issues of MOFs for catalysis, as well as the possibility of debottlenecking the current post-synthesis treatment of zeolites for producing industry-relevant catalysts. In addition, other research projects within Fan’s group will also be introduced briefly to stimulate possible research collaborations.
References:
1 Nat. Catal., (2019): DOI: 10.1038/s41929-018-0206-2; 2UK patent application: GB 1814932.8.

Biography: 
He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bath in 2010, working with Prof. Alexei A Lapkin in catalytic reaction engineering, flow chemistry and structured reactors. From 2010 to 2013, he took the postdoctoral positions at the University of Warwick and University of Cambridge, focusing on the research in catalytic kinetics and CFD simulation of reacting flows in structured reactors. In October 2013, he joined the University of Manchester and now is a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering. His research broadly encompasses the heterogeneous catalysis, catalytic reaction engineering, structured catalysts/reactors and separation. Currently, he focuses specifically on the development and characterisation of porous materials, ranging from microporous zeolites/MOFs, through zeolites with mesoporosity, to macroporous cellular foams, for gas adsorption and catalytic applications.