Dr. Babu Joseph's Talk

Oct 13, 2016 - 17:00

Oct 13, 2016 - 18:00

Rm. No. 118 Ground floor Chemical Engg. Dept.

Seminars

Dr. Babu Joseph Professor Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering University of South Florida Tampa Florida Visiting Fulbright-Nehru Scholar IIT Bombay

Abstract: CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is partly responsible for global warming. Therefore it is desirable to seek ways to capture and convert CO2 into fuels that can be used to meet energy needs. Reduction of CO2 using solar energy via the photocatalytic process is an area that is attracting a lot of attention by researchers. TiO2 has been found to be photo active for CO2 reduction. However the yields are low and due to its high bandgap only the UV portion of the solar spectrum is utilized in the conversion process. One approach to overcome these limitations is to enhance the activity using co-catalysts. In addition Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) has been suggested as a way to enhance activity. I will present some results from our lab on both these approaches. Another approach that is now attracting attention is the synthesis of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) that have photo-active linkers and catalytic nodes. I will present some results of CO2 photoreduction studies based on this novel photocatalyst that was synthesized in our Chemistry department. In the second half of this talk I will present some insights into the CO2 photo reduction reaction mechanism using electronic structure calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). It is shown that the CO2 adsorbs in bent form on the catalyst surface and smaller the bond angle the weaker the C-O bond strength. The presence of co-catalysts leads to enhanced bond-breaking. Oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface also make it easier to break the CO2 molecule.Brief profile of the speaker: Dr. Joseph graduated from IIT/Kanpur with B. Tech (Silver Medalist) in ChE and obtained his MS and Ph.D. in ChE from Case Western Reserve University. He then joined the Energy Lab at MIT where he worked on the development of ASPEN Simulator. He joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis in 1978 where he became the Edward C. Dicke Professor in 2000. In 2002 he moved to become Chair of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at USF. He is the author of two books (Real Time Personal Computing 1989 and Techniques of Model Based Control 2002) one edited volume (Wavelet Applications 1996) and over 200 technical publications. During the year 1985-86 he was visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He is founder and VP for Research at T2C-Energy LLC. a small business working on commercializing technology for converting landfill gas to diesel and jet fuel. Website: http://www.eng.usf.edu/~bjoseph/ (Attendance compulsory for CL702 students)