Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

In Loving Memory of George "Bud" M. Homsy (1943 - 2024)

Chemical Engineering
Main content start

Levi T. Thompson

Taking a Stab at Alchemy: Nanostructured Early Transition Metal Carbides and Nitrides

University of Delaware

Event Details:

Monday, February 22, 2021
4:00pm - 5:00pm PST

Location

Zoom
United States

This event is open to:

Faculty/Staff
Members
Students
Levi Thompson

Levi Thompson
University of Delaware
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Abstract: Taking a Stab at Alchemy: Nanostructured Early Transition Metal Carbides and Nitrides
The insertion of carbon and nitrogen into the interstitial sites in Mo and V can transform these metals into materials with properties that are similar to those of noble metals like Pt and Au. For example, Michel Boudart, a former member of the Stanford faculty, was among the first to report similarities between the catalytic properties of tungsten carbides and Pt, one of the most important catalytic materials known. Since these early discoveries, interstitial metal carbides and nitrides have been investigated for a variety of catalytic and energy storage applications. This talk will describe our work to understand the interactions of hydrogen and metals with these materials. Hydrogen is a reactant or product in a number of important catalytic and electrocatalytic reactions including those required for biomass conversion. Interestingly we found evidence that subsurface hydrogen influences surface catalytic reactions for some metal nitrides. Because carbides and nitrides can be produced with high surface areas, there is also interest in using them as support materials. A better understanding of the relevant interactions would enable the rational design of carbide and nitride supported metal catalysts.

Biosketch:  
Professor Thompson is Dean of the College of Engineering and Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He earned his B.ChE. from the University of Delaware, and M.S.E. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan (UM). Professor Thompson was a faculty member at the University of Michigan where he served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Director of the Hydrogen Energy Technology Laboratory and Director of the Michigan-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. His scholarly research on nanostructured materials for catalytic and energy storage applications is described in more than 150 publications and more than 10 patents. He is a Fellow of the AIChE and is recipient of awards including the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, McBride Distinguished Lectureship, Union Carbide Innovation Recognition Award, Dow Chemical Good Teaching Award and Michiganian of the Year Award for his research, entrepreneurship, and teaching. He co-founded T/J Technologies, a developer of nanomaterials for advanced batteries that was acquired by A123 Systems, and Inmatech, a developer of low cost, high energy density supercapacitors for automotive and military applications.

Explore More Events