Matthew Holbrook
BS, Chemistry, Morehead State University, 2004
Current research is focused on synthesizing a more reactive, reusable
catalyst. Amorphous nanoporous carbon (NPC) is a promising medium
for catalysis due to its chemical and thermal inertness. Current
experiments are being conducted to form a smaller particle catalyst
in the medium. The reasoning is that only a portion of the surface
area of the catalyst is actually used due to being inside the medium.
The pore size has a much smaller diameter than the particle, thus
a higher % wt. of catalyst is no more reactive than a smaller %
wt. The limiting factor is the average diameter of the catalyst,
and not the % wt. of the catalyst. Thus a smaller particle size
will allow for less catalyst to be used making the catalyst/medium
less costly.