Julia Curley is a postdoctoral researcher at NREL under the tutelage of Gregg Beckham and Robert Allen. She works to develop efficient and scalable systems for the chemical depolymerization of polyesters including collaborations with IBM and Amazon.  

Julia received her bachelor's in chemistry from Boston College in 2016 (summa cum laude). Her undergraduate research focused on the development of redox switchable iron complexes used to catalyze the copolymerization of lactide and epoxide to provide performance advantaged block copolymers. She then went on to earn her doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Yale University under Professor Nilay Hazari (fall 2021). Her graduate work centered around the synthesis, catalysis, and mechanistic studies of iron pincer complexes used to catalyze reactions relevant to renewable energy storage.
 
For additional information, see Julia Curley's LinkedIn profile.
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL. 

Research Interests

Chemical recycling 
 
Homogeneous catalysis 
 
Sustainable aviation fuels 

Education

Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, Yale University 
 
M.S., Inorganic Chemistry, Yale University 
 
B.S., Chemistry, Boston College

Associations and Memberships

Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society (2016)

Featured Work

Expanding Plastics Recycling Technologies: Chemical Aspects, Technology Status and Challenges, Green Chemistry (2022)
 
Control of Catalyst Isomers Using an N-Phenyl Substituted MACHO-Type Ligand in CO₂ Hydrogenation and Formic Acid Dehydrogenation, Inorganic Chemistry (2022)
 
Understanding the Reactivity and Decomposition of a Highly Active Iron Pincer Catalyst for Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation Reactions, ACS Catalysis (2021)
 
Additive-Free Formic Acid Dehydrogenation Using a Pincer-Supported Iron Catalyst, ChemCatChem (2020)
 
Block Copolymerization of Lactide and an Epoxide Facilitated by a Redox Switchable Iron-Based Catalyst, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2016)

Awards and Honors

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)