Project Title: Optimizing Supported Platinum Catalytic Nanoparticles
BASIS Advisor: Dr. Bozidarevic
Internship Location: Stanford University
Onsite Mentor: Dr. Matteo Cargnello
Global warming has become an increasingly pressing issue, driven by the emission of greenhouse gases. As atmospheric hydrocarbons are far more potent on a per-molecule basis than carbon dioxide, it would therefore be highly environmentally beneficial if we could convert methane into the less-harmful carbon dioxide. Such a reaction is only practically feasible in the presence of a catalyst; palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt) nanoparticles are known to be extremely effective. However, in order to maximize and sustain the efficiency of these catalysts over long periods of time, an equally efficacious support material is required and has yet to be determined. Through my research at Stanford University, I hope to find a greater understanding of the character of these Pd and Pt catalysts and their equally important supports in order to determine how to optimize their performance. I will conduct experiments with these nanoparticles to synthesize a variety of promising support materials, including recently proposed porous “cage” materials, and gather and analyze data regarding their behavior under diverse conditions in order to conclude which species and configuration of support material maximizes the performance and longevity of these metal catalysts. This project’s findings could be applied to many aspects of engineering, including cars, where more effective supported catalysts could lower the cost and maximize the lifespan of catalytic converters and give rise to cleaner emissions, helping us achieve our ultimate goal of a greener and brighter future.
My Posts
Roar, Lion, Roar — Week 9 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hi everyone! Week 9 was a fairly slow one in terms of lab work, with me seeing only 18 hours at the Shriram Center instead of my usual 30+. Why was this, you may ask? College visits! Immediately following the conclusion of prom (which was super fun by the way!), I took the weekend and […]
Does Size Matter? — Week 10 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello all, Week 10 was a very exciting week, particularly because I was able to obtain some incredible data, which I am extremely happy about! Let me tell you about it: If you’ll recall, during week 9, working with 4 nm platinum nanoparticles, I tried to establish the UV-Vis calibration curve, but unfortunately, I underestimated […]
Killing Two Birds With One Stone — Week 8 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hi everyone! It’s Ethan, back again to tell you about my adventures at the Shriram Center for Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Stanford! This week, since Zeus had been down for a while, Angel and I decided to proceed with a completely new side project. Based on my experimental results from previous weeks, I found […]
If at First You Don’t Succeed… — Week 7 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello BISV friends! I say this, because it just hit me that it’s been quite a while since I last spent a good chunk of time on BISV’s campus (since I’m in the lab pretty much every day!), and it’s a really weird feeling that I can’t pinpoint. Regardless, that’s beside the point. I, Ethan, […]
Unstoppable Acids — Week 6 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello all, It’s Ethan again, back to tell you more about my adventures with the Cargnello Group at Stanford! During week 6, there were some very interesting developments in my research, which I encourage you to read about below: If you’ll recall from previous weeks, I had been working on a UV-Vis calibration curve which […]
Draft: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work — Week 5 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello beloved readers! ‘Tis Ethan, back again with my newest platinum-filled blog post! I appreciate you for returning to see what I’ve been up to lately in the lab at the Stanford Shriram Center! Admittedly, week 5 marked a slight slowdown in my pace of research, for the most part, due to a particularly unfortunate […]
And at Last I See the (UV) Light — Week 4 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello, fellow senior project-ers! It’s your local chemist back with another edition of “Ethan writes way too much again”! Thank you for coming back to read of my adventures at the Shriram research center for yet another week — I appreciate you! Week 4 did not disappoint in providing five days full of exciting ideas […]
Burn It. Burn It All. — Week 3 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello, everyone! Ethan the chemist back here again. After another unfathomably exciting week of research in the lab, I’ve returned to tell you all about it. Let’s cut right to the chase! Continuing from where we left off last week, having successfully completed the synthesis of our fully-functioning supported catalytic platinum nanoparticles, Angel and I returned […]
Don’t Do Drugs, Do Nanoparticles — Week 2 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hi everyone! Ethan back here again. Week 2 at the chemical engineering lab was phenomenal — I feel as though I learned a ton, gained a lot of experience, and had a blast! Let me tell you about it: After spending my first week familiarizing myself with the new research lab environment, I finally got to […]
Getting Settled In — Week 1 at Stanford Chemical Engineering
Hello everyone! 🙂 Ethan Feng here — for the next 12 weeks, I will be working at Stanford University’s chemical engineering department as part of Dr. Matteo Cargnello’s group, which focuses its research on metal-nanoparticle-based catalysts (shout-out to the legendary Angela Ye for recommending this lab to me). I’ve been really passionate about chemistry ever since […]