Science and Technology of Framework Metal-Containing Molecular Sieves Catalysts

2017 Spring Symposium

Las­z­lo Nemeth, Depart­ment of Chem­istry and Bio­chem­istry, Uni­ver­si­ty of Neva­da Las Vegas

Abstract — Since the dis­cov­ery of tita­ni­um sil­i­calite (TS-1) more than 30 years ago frame­work met­al-con­tain­ing mol­e­c­u­lar sieves have become an impor­tant class of cat­a­lyst, find­ing appli­ca­tion in sev­er­al indus­tri­al process­es. Incor­po­ra­tion of tita­ni­um, gal­li­um, iron, tin and oth­er ele­ments into mol­e­c­u­lar sieves frame­works has led to both sci­en­tif­ic progress and engi­neer­ing inno­va­tions in catal­y­sis. As a result of these devel­op­ments, frame­work met­al-con­tain­ing zeo­lites have been imple­ment­ed in the pre­ced­ing decade in new com­mer­cial, byprod­uct-free green process­es, which have improved sus­tain­abil­i­ty in the chem­i­cal indus­try. Based on a com­pre­hen­sive analy­sis of the recent lit­er­a­ture includ­ing patents, this review is a sum­ma­ry of the cur­rent knowl­edge of the sci­ence and tech­nol­o­gy of frame­work met­al-con­tain­ing mol­e­c­u­lar sieves. The syn­the­sis of these mate­ri­als is sum­ma­rized, fol­lowed by an account of state-of-the-art char­ac­ter­i­za­tion meth­ods. The key cat­alyt­ic chemistries, which can be clas­si­fied into oxi­da­tion reac­tions such as olefin epox­i­da­tion, aro­mat­ic hydrox­y­la­tion and ammox­i­ma­tion, and Lewis acid-cat­alyzed reac­tions, are dis­cussed. Mech­a­nisms pro­posed for these trans­for­ma­tions are reviewed, togeth­er with the the­o­ret­i­cal and mod­el­ing tools applied in this con­text. An overview of the com­mer­cial tech­nolo­gies asso­ci­at­ed with the use of frame­work met­al-con­tain­ing mol­e­c­u­lar sieves ( Tita­ni­um and Gal­li­um Mol­e­c­u­lar sieves) mate­ri­als will be pre­sent­ed. The paper will be dis­cuss the cur­rent activ­i­ty on frame­work Tin Beta Zeo­lite, which shown unique “Zeoen­zyme” selec­tiv­i­ties in mul­ti­ple appli­ca­tions. Some new chem­istry using Sn-zeo­lites will be pre­sent­ed also to pro­duce new prod­uct from bio­mass.

Biog­ra­phy — Las­z­lo Nemeth earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chem­istry and Doc­tor of Sci­ence in chem­i­cal engi­neer­ing from Uni­ver­si­ty of Debre­cen, Hun­gary.

Upon grad­u­a­tion he was assis­tant pro­fes­sor in Depart­ment of Chem­i­cal Tech­nol­o­gy at same Uni­ver­si­ty and lat­er scientist/ man­ag­er at Hun­gar­i­an High Pres­sure Insti­tute, Hun­gary.

UOP invit­ed him to join to Cor­po­rate Research in Des Plaines, IL, He worked for UOP LLC a Hon­ey­well Com­pa­ny 23 years as senior research asso­ciate, with joint appoint­ment as an adjunct pro­fes­sor at Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing Depart­ment of Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Chica­go.

Dur­ing his research career at UOP he was prin­ci­pal inves­ti­ga­tor of mul­ti­ple suc­cess­ful projects in the area of mate­r­i­al sci­ence, adsorp­tion and catal­y­sis. His exper­tise also includes zeo­lite appli­ca­tion for UOP’s cat­alyt­ic process­es, met­al-zeo­lites, sol­id and liq­uid superacids, hydro­gen per­ox­ide syn­the­sis and new appli­ca­tions.

Las­z­lo joined the Chem­istry and Bio­chem­istry Depart­ment of Uni­ver­si­ty of Neva­da Las Vegas in 2015 as a research pro­fes­sor. Cur­rent­ly he is work­ing on bimetal­lic-zeo­lite syn­the­sis and appli­ca­tions, Lithi­um Ion Bat­tery recir­cu­la­tion, and devel­op new Ther­mochromic nano­ma­te­ri­als.

He spent his sab­bat­i­cal with George Olah (Nobel Lau­re­ate) and Aveli­no Cor­ma (ITQ Spain).

Dr. Nemeth was award­ed with Stein Star award and Honeywell’s excel­lence in Inno­va­tion. He pub­lished 50+ papers and 90+ patents.