Jingguang Chen is the Thayer Lindsley Professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University.  He received his BS degree in chemistry from Nanjing University and was selected to study in the USA in the China-USA Chemistry Graduate Program (CGP).  He received his PhD degree from the University of Pittsburgh, followed by a Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship in Germany.  After spending several years as a staff scientist at Exxon Corporate Research he started his academic career at the University of Delaware, serving as the director of the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology and the Claire LeClaire Professor of chemical engineering.  He moved to Columbia University in 2012. He has been elected for several leadership positions in the catalysis societies, including the Chair of the Gordon Conference on Catalysis, the director-at-large of the North American Catalysis Society, and the Chair of the Catalysis Division in the American Chemical Society.  He has co-authored 20 United States patents and 280 journal articles that have been cited over 9,000 times.

 

Transition metal carbides often show unique catalytic properties [1,2]. In the current talk we will use two examples to demonstrate the potential application of using carbides as low-cost and selective catalysts. Our research approaches involve parallel efforts in density functional theory (DFT) calculations, surface science experiments on model systems, and synthesis and evaluation of supported catalysts under in-situ catalytic or electrocatalytic conditions. In the first example we will discuss the unique catalytic properties of molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) and tungsten monocarbide (WC) for the selective C=O/C-O bond scission in hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived oxygenates [3,4]. We will then present our recent results on the catalytic conversion of CO₂ using carbides and metal-modified carbides [5].

[1]  H.H. Hwu and J.G. Chen, “Surface Chemistry of Transition Metal Carbides”, Chemical Reviews, 105 (2005) 185-212

[2] A.L. Stottlemyer, T.G. Kelly, Q. Meng and J.G. Chen, “Reactions of Oxygen-Containing Molecules on Transition Metal Carbides:  Surface Science Insight into Potential Applications in Catalysis and Electrocatalysis”, Surface Science Reports, 67 (2012) 201-232

[3] H. Ren, Y. Chen, Y. Huang, W. Deng, D.G. Vlachos, and J.G. Chen, “Tungsten Carbides as Selective Deoxygenation Catalysts:  Experimental and Computational Studies of Converting C3 Oxygenates to Propene”, Green Chemistry, 16 (2014) 761-769

[4] K. Xiong, W.-S. Lee, A. Bhan and J.G. Chen, “Molybdenum Carbide as a Highly Selective Deoxygenation Catalyst for Converting Furfural to 2-methylfuran”, ChemSusChem, (2014) DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201402033

[5] M.D. Porosoff, X. Yang, J.A. Boscoboinik, and J.G. Chen, “Molybdenum carbide as alternative catalysts to precious metals for highly selective reduction of CO2 to CO”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, (2014) DOI: 10.1002/anie.201404109