High entropy alloy catalysts for hydrogenation of biomass derived oxygenates

Objective

In the proposed project, we will study high entropy alloy (HEA) materials as an alternative to noble metals for liquid phase biomass processing. Non noble metal catalysts suffer from stability issues during liquid phase biomass transformation, owing to sintering, oxidation induced leaching, poisoning. Noble metal catalysts are often used in hydrogenation, hydrodeoxygenation reactions of biomass derived oxygenates, making the process expensive, which is one of the reasons why biomass derived products are not widely adopted in industry yet. We believe HEAs of non-noble metals can solve this problem. This project combines the researcher's expertise in material science and advanced characterization methods with the host's knowledge of biomass conversion and is further enriched by the co-supervisor's background in theoretical chemistry. Together, these strengths will drive the development of new sustainable catalytic materials for biomass conversion.