2 Postdoctoral associate positions in heterogeneous catalysis /nanoparticle chemistry
PhD Chemists or Chemical Engineers with appropriate backgrounds in Inorganic, Physical, or Organic Chemistry are eligible. A variety of projects are available under my core interests in heterogeneous catalysis, including: nanoparticle and catalyst synthesis, bimetallic catalyst characterization, reaction kinetics, development of new catalytic reactions (particularly using biomass-based feedstocks or for organic chemistry).
The positions are ideally suited to individuals interested in pursuing careers at research-oriented primarily undergraduate institutions. They are also well suited to individuals wishing to gain additional chemistry experience in areas where industrial / commercial / practical concerns are important.
Previous experience in Inorganic or Organometallic synthetic chemistry, homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis, nanoparticle synthesis, or surface chemistry will all be applicable. Candidates are not expected to have all of these skills. Potential applicants must have excellent written and oral communication skills. Postdocs will be expected to independently conduct research and draft manuscripts for publication. Experience with equipment maintenance is desirable.
Potential candidates must be interested in working in a laboratory environment that is conducive to the success of undergraduate researchers; however, interest in pursuing a teaching career is not as the position may benefit researchers who wish to gain industrially relevant experience. Formal classroom teaching will not be required. For appropriate postdocs, a number of teaching opportunities within the department may be available, depending on departmental staffing levels and needs.
Both appointments will start in Fall 2009 and are for one year initially. Pending satisfactory progress and sufficient continued funding, additional appointments are possible.
Before formally applying, please contact me directly (bert.chandler “at” trinity.edu) to enquire about position details. Applications will initially require a full CV, 2-3 letters of reference, and additional materials as necessary.
My website has not been updated in some time, so please contact me directly for further information regarding our work. A brief description of the basic projects and recent publications are below.
Ongoing Work in
the
The primary focus of my lab is in using nanoparticles prepared in solution as precursors to heterogeneous catalysts. We have generally used PAMAM dendrimers to prepare dendrimer encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs) or monolayer protected clusters (MPCs) in solution. The nanoparticles are then deposited onto a high surface area oxide support (e.g. silica, alumina, titania) and the organic material is thermally removed. We are interested in using this general method to prepare nanoparticles and catalysts with bimetallic compositions that are not available via traditional methods.
Over the next several years, we will focus on new bimetallic Au-based nanoparticle catalysts. Our long-term interests are to tune the catalytic properties of Au by doping Au nanoparticles with heterometals, especially less expensive base metals. There is an increasingly broad interest in using Au for a wide variety of organic reactions, especially oxidations. Our goals are to develop methods for increasing the reactivity and/or selectivity of Au and to understand how different metals tune the catalytic properties of Au.
Initially, we will use CO oxidation as a test reaction, but in general I am not interested in developing better CO oxidation catalysts. CO oxidation is an excellent probe reaction that quickly tells us something about changes to the nanoparticle activity. We use it essentially as a characterization tool, although some Au bimetallics have potential for the preferential oxidation of CO in H2, which is an industrially important reaction (and would be appropriate for a postdoc to study).
Over the long term, I am interested in studying a battery of organic reactions, and developing new catalytic reactions. There are a number of opportunities for postdocs, once established, to move the research into new areas (new reactions, new metal combinations, etc.). I am moving to look at reactions related to the biofuels and green chemistry areas using Au based catalysts and other metals. I recently purchased an 8 vessel parallel reactor system that will greatly facilitate moving quickly into new reactions and rapidly performing kinetic characterizations.
I also have a smaller project in my lab involving solid acid-base catalysts. We have uncovered an interesting organic reaction, catalyzed by simple organic molecules, and are moving towards publishing some of these results.
Although experience in catalysis is a plus, good students need not have extensive training in surface chemistry or heterogeneous catalysis. These positions would be ideal for students who anticipate pursuing a career at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution like Trinity. The work should be accessible to well trained students with backgrounds in Physical, Inorganic, Materials, Analytical or Organic Chemistry, as well as Chemical Engineering. There will be opportunities for students to bring their own expertise to project and to develop related individual projects (e.g. synthesis, reaction mechanisms, surface chemistry, new applications of nanoparticles) that may provide the basis for future individual proposals.
Interested candidates should contact me directly with the information above, or via email (bert.chandler “at” trinity.edu). For more information, please check out our recent publications:
Long, C; Gilbertson, JD; Vijayaraghavan, G; Stevenson, KJ; Pursell, CJ Chandler, BD; “Kinetic Evaluation of Highly Active Supported Gold Catalysts Prepared from Monolayer Protected Clusters: An Experimental Michaelis-Menten Approach for Determining the Oxygen Binding Constant During CO Oxidation Catalysis” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2008, v130 p 10103-10115.
Auten,
BJ; Hahn, BP; Vijayaraghavan, G; Stevenson, KJ;
Gilbertson,
JD;
Hoover, N; Auten, B; Chandler, BD; “Tuning Supported Catalyst Reactivity with Dendrimer-Templated Pt-Cu Nanoparticles” Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2006, v110, p8606-8612.
Lang,
H; Maldonado, S; Stevenson, K J.;
Lang, H; May, RA; Iversen, BL;
Day-to-day equipment in my lab:
HEL Polyblock reactor system (8 reaction vessels)
Nicolet Magna 470 FT-IR, with in-situ transmission cell and DRIFTS attachments (ATR also available in the department and low-pressure system through collaboration with Dr. Chris Pursell in the department)
Quantachrome Autosorb 1-C Physisorption/Chemisorption Instrument
1 dedicated CO oxidation system with IR detector
2 flexible gas-solid flow reactor systems
Jasco UV-Visible spectrometer
Ocean Optics UV-visible spectrometer
Several tube and muffle furnaces for catalyst pretreatment
Atmospheric batch reactor systems
Vacuum oven
Rotary evaporator
Two schlenk lines
Departmental equipment available:
AA spectrometer
Electrochemistry intstumentation,
300 & 400 MHz NMR spectrometers (solution only)
CD spectrometer
Fluorescence Spectrometer
Isothermal Titration Calorimeter
MALDI Mass spectrometer
GC-MS
We have collaborations with faculty at the