Overview
Catalysis, first coined by Berzelius in 1835, as the process of accelerating chemical reactions, has created intrigue for centuries. Following undergraduate studies at the School of Chemistry, I began studying, and was later employed, in the Cardiff Catalysis Institute. This all-encompassing area of research and the broad application of catalysts within sustainable 21st century technology has gripped me ever since. The relevance of this research area has never been so prominent, in academia and industry, as we require faster, larger scale and environmentally friendly technology.
Research in the CCI is diverse and collaboration with multiple groups within Cardiff, the UK and the world, helps to drive learning and underpins research activities. Within the school of chemistry, the CCI has a broad range of equipment based around 4 pillars - material synthesis, material characterisation, chemical testing and chemical analysis. My role is to coordinate the equipment and provide expert advice, to offer internal and external researchers the tools to be able to complete research goals efficiently and effectively.
Publication
2023
- Zhao, L. et al. 2023. Insights into the effect of metal ratio on cooperative redox enhancement effects over au- and pd-mediated alcohol oxidation. ACS Catalysis 13(5), pp. 2892-2903. (10.1021/acscatal.2c06284)
2022
- Mandal, S., Shaw, G. and Williams, O. A. 2022. Comparison of nanodiamond coated quartz filter with commercial electropositive filters: Zeta potential and dye retention study. Carbon 199, pp. 439-443. (10.1016/j.carbon.2022.08.021)
- Sun, S. et al. 2022. Selective oxidation of methane to methanol and methyl hydroperoxide over palladium modified MoO3 photocatalyst under ambient conditions. Catalysis Science & Technology 12(11), pp. 3727-3736. (10.1039/D2CY00240J)
- Huang, X. et al. 2022. Au-Pd separation enhances bimetallic catalysis of alcohol oxidation. Nature 603, pp. 271-275. (10.1038/s41586-022-04397-7)
2021
- Sun, S. et al. 2021. Lanthanum modified Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites for selective methane oxidation with H2O2. Catalysis Science & Technology 11(24), pp. 8052-8064. (10.1039/D1CY01643A)
2020
- Akram, A. et al. 2020. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using a combination of a hydrophobic solvent and water. Catalysis Science and Technology 10(24), pp. 8203-8212. (10.1039/D0CY01163K)
- Crole, D. A., Underhill, R., Edwards, J. K., Shaw, G., Freakley, S. J., Hutchings, G. J. and Lewis, R. J. 2020. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2 using Pd-Ni/TiO2 catalysts. Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 378(2176), article number: 20200062. (10.1098/rsta.2020.0062)
2019
- Nowicka, E. et al. 2019. Benzyl alcohol oxidation with Pd-Zn/TiO2: computational and experimental studies. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 20(1), pp. 367-378. (10.1080/14686996.2019.1598237)
2018
- Nowicka, E. et al. 2018. Highly selective PdZn/ZnO catalysts for the methanol steam reforming reaction. Catalysis Science and Technology 8(22), pp. 5848-5857. (10.1039/C8CY01100A)
- Meng, F., Li, X., Shaw, G., Smith, P., Morgan, D., Perdjon, M. and Li, Z. 2018. Sacrificial carbon strategy toward enhancement of slurry methanation activity and stability over Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 57(14), pp. 4798-4806. (10.1021/acs.iecr.7b05157)
- Chow, Y. K. et al. 2018. A kinetic study of methane partial oxidation over FeZSM-5 using N2O as an oxidant. ChemPhysChem 19(4), pp. 402-411. (10.1002/cphc.201701202)
- Chow, Y. K. et al. 2018. Investigating the influence of acid sites in continuous methane oxidation with N2O over Fe/MFI zeolites. Catalysis Science and Technology 2018(8), pp. 154-163. (10.1039/C7CY01769C)
2017
- Clark, N., Shaw, G. and Porch, A. 2017. Effect of surface stresses on microwave surface resistance and its impact for cavity perturbation measurements. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 27(10), pp. 939-941. (10.1109/LMWC.2017.2745486)
- Guadix Montero, S. et al. 2017. Deactivation studies of bimetallic AuPd nanoparticles supported on MgO during selective aerobic oxidation of alcohols. Applied Catalysis A: General 546, pp. 58-66. (10.1016/j.apcata.2017.07.045)
- Kondrat, S. A. et al. 2017. The effect of sodium species on methanol synthesis and water-gas shift Cu/ZnO catalysts: utilising high purity zincian georgeite. Faraday Discussions 197, pp. 287-307. (10.1039/C6FD00202A)
- Smith, P. J. et al. 2017. A new class of Cu/ZnO catalysts derived from zincian georgeite precursors prepared by co-precipitation. Chemical Science 8(3), pp. 2436-2447. (10.1039/C6SC04130B)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2017. The low temperature oxidation of propane using H2O2 and Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts; insights into the active site and enhancement of catalytic turnover frequencies. ChemCatChem 9(4), pp. 642-650. (10.1002/cctc.201601241)
2016
- Peneau, V. et al. 2016. The partial oxidation of propane under mild aqueous conditions with H2O2 and ZSM-5 catalysts. Catalysis Science & Technology 6(20), pp. 7521-7531. (10.1039/C6CY01332E)
- Pattisson, S. et al. 2016. Tuning graphitic oxide for initiator- and metal-free aerobic epoxidation of linear alkenes. Nature Communications 7, article number: 12855. (10.1038/ncomms12855)
- Xu, J., Armstrong, R., Shaw, G., Dummer, N., Freakley, S. J., Taylor, S. H. and Hutchings, G. J. 2016. Continuous selective oxidation of methane to methanol over Cu- and Fe-modified ZSM-5 catalysts in a flow reactor. Catalysis Today 270, pp. 93-100. (10.1016/j.cattod.2015.09.011)
- Akram, A. et al. 2016. Gas phase stabiliser-free production of hydrogen peroxide using supported gold-palladium catalysts. Chemical Science 7(9), pp. 5833-5837. (10.1039/C6SC01332E)
2015
- Marin, R. P. et al. 2015. Supercritical antisolvent precipitation of TiO2 with tailored anatase/rutile composition for applications in redox catalysis and Ppotocatalysis. Applied Catalysis A: General 504, pp. 62-73. (10.1016/j.apcata.2015.02.023)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2015. Co-oxidation of octane and benzaldehyde using molecular oxygen with Au–Pd/carbon prepared by sol-immobilisation. Catalysis Science & Technology 5(8), pp. 3953-3959. (10.1039/C5CY00453E)
2014
- Peneau, V. et al. 2014. Selective catalytic oxidation of toluene using supported Au-Pt and Pd-Pt nanoalloys [Abstract]. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society 248, article number: 1 p.
- Edwards, J. K. et al. 2014. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using platinum-promoted gold-palladium catalysts. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 53(9), pp. 2381-2384. (10.1002/anie.201308067)
2013
- Peneau, V. et al. 2013. Selective catalytic oxidation using supported gold-platinum and palladium-platinum nanoalloys prepared by sol-immobilisation. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 15(26), pp. 10636-10644. (10.1039/C3CP50361E)
- Miedziak, P. et al. 2013. Physical mixing of metal acetates: optimisation of catalyst parameters to produce highly active bimetallic catalysts. Catalysis Science & Technology 3(11), pp. 2910-2917. (10.1039/c3cy00263b)
- Shaw, G. 2013. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using bimetallic, gold and palladium, supported catalysts. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2012
- Kondrat, S. A. et al. 2012. Physical mixing of metal acetates: a simple, scalable method to produce active chloride free bimetallic catalysts. Chemical Science 3(10), pp. 2965-2971. (10.1039/c2sc20450a)
- Edwards, J. K. et al. 2012. The effect of heat treatment on the performance and structure of carbon-supported Au-Pd catalysts for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Catalysis 292, pp. 227-238. (10.1016/j.jcat.2012.05.018)
Articles
- Zhao, L. et al. 2023. Insights into the effect of metal ratio on cooperative redox enhancement effects over au- and pd-mediated alcohol oxidation. ACS Catalysis 13(5), pp. 2892-2903. (10.1021/acscatal.2c06284)
- Mandal, S., Shaw, G. and Williams, O. A. 2022. Comparison of nanodiamond coated quartz filter with commercial electropositive filters: Zeta potential and dye retention study. Carbon 199, pp. 439-443. (10.1016/j.carbon.2022.08.021)
- Sun, S. et al. 2022. Selective oxidation of methane to methanol and methyl hydroperoxide over palladium modified MoO3 photocatalyst under ambient conditions. Catalysis Science & Technology 12(11), pp. 3727-3736. (10.1039/D2CY00240J)
- Huang, X. et al. 2022. Au-Pd separation enhances bimetallic catalysis of alcohol oxidation. Nature 603, pp. 271-275. (10.1038/s41586-022-04397-7)
- Sun, S. et al. 2021. Lanthanum modified Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites for selective methane oxidation with H2O2. Catalysis Science & Technology 11(24), pp. 8052-8064. (10.1039/D1CY01643A)
- Akram, A. et al. 2020. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using a combination of a hydrophobic solvent and water. Catalysis Science and Technology 10(24), pp. 8203-8212. (10.1039/D0CY01163K)
- Crole, D. A., Underhill, R., Edwards, J. K., Shaw, G., Freakley, S. J., Hutchings, G. J. and Lewis, R. J. 2020. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2 using Pd-Ni/TiO2 catalysts. Philosophical Transactions A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 378(2176), article number: 20200062. (10.1098/rsta.2020.0062)
- Nowicka, E. et al. 2019. Benzyl alcohol oxidation with Pd-Zn/TiO2: computational and experimental studies. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials 20(1), pp. 367-378. (10.1080/14686996.2019.1598237)
- Nowicka, E. et al. 2018. Highly selective PdZn/ZnO catalysts for the methanol steam reforming reaction. Catalysis Science and Technology 8(22), pp. 5848-5857. (10.1039/C8CY01100A)
- Meng, F., Li, X., Shaw, G., Smith, P., Morgan, D., Perdjon, M. and Li, Z. 2018. Sacrificial carbon strategy toward enhancement of slurry methanation activity and stability over Ni-Zr/SiO2 catalyst. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 57(14), pp. 4798-4806. (10.1021/acs.iecr.7b05157)
- Chow, Y. K. et al. 2018. A kinetic study of methane partial oxidation over FeZSM-5 using N2O as an oxidant. ChemPhysChem 19(4), pp. 402-411. (10.1002/cphc.201701202)
- Chow, Y. K. et al. 2018. Investigating the influence of acid sites in continuous methane oxidation with N2O over Fe/MFI zeolites. Catalysis Science and Technology 2018(8), pp. 154-163. (10.1039/C7CY01769C)
- Clark, N., Shaw, G. and Porch, A. 2017. Effect of surface stresses on microwave surface resistance and its impact for cavity perturbation measurements. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters 27(10), pp. 939-941. (10.1109/LMWC.2017.2745486)
- Guadix Montero, S. et al. 2017. Deactivation studies of bimetallic AuPd nanoparticles supported on MgO during selective aerobic oxidation of alcohols. Applied Catalysis A: General 546, pp. 58-66. (10.1016/j.apcata.2017.07.045)
- Kondrat, S. A. et al. 2017. The effect of sodium species on methanol synthesis and water-gas shift Cu/ZnO catalysts: utilising high purity zincian georgeite. Faraday Discussions 197, pp. 287-307. (10.1039/C6FD00202A)
- Smith, P. J. et al. 2017. A new class of Cu/ZnO catalysts derived from zincian georgeite precursors prepared by co-precipitation. Chemical Science 8(3), pp. 2436-2447. (10.1039/C6SC04130B)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2017. The low temperature oxidation of propane using H2O2 and Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts; insights into the active site and enhancement of catalytic turnover frequencies. ChemCatChem 9(4), pp. 642-650. (10.1002/cctc.201601241)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2016. The partial oxidation of propane under mild aqueous conditions with H2O2 and ZSM-5 catalysts. Catalysis Science & Technology 6(20), pp. 7521-7531. (10.1039/C6CY01332E)
- Pattisson, S. et al. 2016. Tuning graphitic oxide for initiator- and metal-free aerobic epoxidation of linear alkenes. Nature Communications 7, article number: 12855. (10.1038/ncomms12855)
- Xu, J., Armstrong, R., Shaw, G., Dummer, N., Freakley, S. J., Taylor, S. H. and Hutchings, G. J. 2016. Continuous selective oxidation of methane to methanol over Cu- and Fe-modified ZSM-5 catalysts in a flow reactor. Catalysis Today 270, pp. 93-100. (10.1016/j.cattod.2015.09.011)
- Akram, A. et al. 2016. Gas phase stabiliser-free production of hydrogen peroxide using supported gold-palladium catalysts. Chemical Science 7(9), pp. 5833-5837. (10.1039/C6SC01332E)
- Marin, R. P. et al. 2015. Supercritical antisolvent precipitation of TiO2 with tailored anatase/rutile composition for applications in redox catalysis and Ppotocatalysis. Applied Catalysis A: General 504, pp. 62-73. (10.1016/j.apcata.2015.02.023)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2015. Co-oxidation of octane and benzaldehyde using molecular oxygen with Au–Pd/carbon prepared by sol-immobilisation. Catalysis Science & Technology 5(8), pp. 3953-3959. (10.1039/C5CY00453E)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2014. Selective catalytic oxidation of toluene using supported Au-Pt and Pd-Pt nanoalloys [Abstract]. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society 248, article number: 1 p.
- Edwards, J. K. et al. 2014. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using platinum-promoted gold-palladium catalysts. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 53(9), pp. 2381-2384. (10.1002/anie.201308067)
- Peneau, V. et al. 2013. Selective catalytic oxidation using supported gold-platinum and palladium-platinum nanoalloys prepared by sol-immobilisation. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 15(26), pp. 10636-10644. (10.1039/C3CP50361E)
- Miedziak, P. et al. 2013. Physical mixing of metal acetates: optimisation of catalyst parameters to produce highly active bimetallic catalysts. Catalysis Science & Technology 3(11), pp. 2910-2917. (10.1039/c3cy00263b)
- Kondrat, S. A. et al. 2012. Physical mixing of metal acetates: a simple, scalable method to produce active chloride free bimetallic catalysts. Chemical Science 3(10), pp. 2965-2971. (10.1039/c2sc20450a)
- Edwards, J. K. et al. 2012. The effect of heat treatment on the performance and structure of carbon-supported Au-Pd catalysts for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Catalysis 292, pp. 227-238. (10.1016/j.jcat.2012.05.018)
Thesis
- Shaw, G. 2013. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using bimetallic, gold and palladium, supported catalysts. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Research
My research interests, to date, have centred around heterogeneous catalysis, where the substance of interest (catalyst) is in a different form (solid) from the chemical reactants (gas/liquid).
My PhD studies focussed on metal nanoparticles (Au-Pd) supported on a pre-formed material, such as TiO 2 and carbon, for the Direct Synthesis of H 2 O2. Not only is this a challenging reaction and a green alternative to the current industrial process (Anthraquinone Oxidation) it provides a model reaction for screening catalysts to aid catalyst design. H2O2 itself has many different applications as a strong oxidant, water applications etc.
Postdoctoral studies presented the opportunity to research zeolites, and their modification, for the oxidation of alkanes to value added products. The aim of this research being to oxidise C1-C4 alkanes, which are currently regularly flared, to platform chemicals, such as methanol, acetic acid, acetone which have a broad use in a variety of different areas. The defined structure of zeolites increases material characterisation.
Whilst maintaining involvement in these active research areas, and others, utilising knowledge gained to provide expert advice. My current role includes the coordination of equipment in the CCI which centres around the following four pillars:
- Material Synthesis
- Material Characterisation
- Chemical Testing
- Chemical Analysis
Biography
Biography
BSc in Chemistry (2006-2009). PhD in heterogeneous catalysis (2009-2012) with Professor Graham Hutchings, FRS (The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using bimetallic, gold and palladium, supported catalysts) including an internship at Solvay S.A. (2009-2010). Post doctoral research associate at Cardiff Catalysis Institute (2012-2014). Cardiff Catalysis Institute Experimental Officer (2014-Ongoing).
Memberships and Awards
Member Royal Society of Chemistry
Registered Scientist
NEBOSH General Certificate (Astutis 2017)