Research Interests

Heterogeneous catalysis for biofuels and refining and petrochemical applications

Production of renewable fuels and value-added chemicals from gasified biomass and biomass pyrolysis vapors

Catalytic depolymerization of biomass

Process scale-up for catalyst synthesis and testing

Areas of Expertise

Bench-scale reactor design, construction, and operation: high-pressure batch and continuous flow reactors (gas & liquid phases)

Catalyst synthesis: zeolites, supported metals, and mesoporous carbons

Analytical instrumentations: temperature programmed desorption/chemisorption techniques (TPD/TPR/TPO/pulse chemisorption), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photo-spectrometry (XPS), UV- vis absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), N2 physisorption/surface area measurement techniques, mass spectrometry (MS), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and liquid/gas chromatography (HPLC/GPC/GC)

Methods/software: Aspen Hysys, Scimsci Pro/II, AutoCAD, Labview, and linear programming

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 2014

B.S., Chemical Engineering – Technology of Petroleum Processing, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, 2007

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher – Chemical Engineering, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2016–present

Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering – University of California, Berkeley, 2014–2016

Project Engineer, Vietnam Petroleum Institute, 2007–2009

Featured Work

"Weak-acid sites catalyze crystalline-cellulose hydrolysis to glucose in water: Importance of carbon post-synthetic surface functionalization," Angewandte Chemie (2015)

"Long-chain glucan adsorption and depolymerization in zeolite-templated carbon," ACS Catalysis (2015)

"Hydride transfer between a phenolic surface pool and reactant paraffins in the catalytic cracking of m-cresol/hexanes mixtures over HY zeolites," Journal of Catalysis (2015)

"Role of a phenolic pool in the conversion of m-cresol to aromatics over HY and HZSM-5 zeolites," Applied Catalysis A: General (2014)

"Generation of synergistic sites by thermal treatment of HY zeolite. Evidence from the reaction of hexane isomers," Journal of Catalysis (2014)

"Hydrodeoxygenation of m-cresol over gallium-modified beta zeolite catalysts," Journal of Catalysis (2012)

"Catalytic conversion of anisole over HY and HZSM-5 zeolites in the presence of different hydrocarbon mixtures," Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2011)

Awards and Honors

Kokes Award, 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting (2013)

ConocoPhillips Fellowship (2011–2014)

Sooner Heritage Scholarship recipient (2011–2013)

Graduate Student Senate Travel Grant (2010–2011)