Dr. Ben Jang Receives Grant from American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund

Regents Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Ben Jang has been awarded a grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund for his research, “Investigation of Forming Pd Single Atoms on CePdOx Surfaces via Controlled Surface Modification procedures.”

“I am pleased to receive this grant. This is mainly an undergraduate research project, and I hope to train three to six undergraduate students during the project period, including visits at Oak Ridge National Lab to use the world class facilities there,” said Jang. “Our scientific goal is to be the first to synthesize single atom Pd-Ceria catalysts using the non-thermal plasma technology for industrial hydrogenation processes. This is an extension of the non-thermal plasma technology we patented in 2013 (US Patent #8,404,608).”

The Petroleum Research Fund is managed by the American Chemical Society. Grants from the fund are awarded for petroleum or fossil fuels at nonprofit institutions. Approximately $18.62 million in funds were awarded from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund in 2015, according to the American Chemical Society.

“I hope that this project leads to novel understanding of ceria-related material for hydrogenation reactions even though ceria is known for oxidation reactions. I am excited about the opportunity to demonstrate so,” said Jang.