Alexis T. Bell

Last updated

Alexis Tarassov Bell (born October 16, 1942) is an American chemical engineer. [1] He is currently the Dow professor of Sustainable Chemistry in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in UC Berkeley's College of Chemistry. [1] He is also the Faculty Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. [2] He is known for his work with heterogenous catalysts and characterizing the mechanisms of these reactions on a quantum level. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Bell was born on October 16, 1942, in New York City, the only child of immigrant parents. [1] He grew up in midtown Manhattan and attended McBurney School. [1] Bell studied chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and got his bachelor's degree in 1964 and his PhD in 1967. [1] His doctoral thesis was on the Chemical reaction in a radiofrequency discharge: the oxidation of hydrogen chloride. [4] Bell joined the Chemical Engineering Faculty at UC Berkeley after getting his PhD in 1967. [1]

Career

Bell remains at UC Berkeley doing work in the Chemical Engineering Faculty. [2] Bell's research first started in the 1970s with plasma and to date one of his most cited papers is from 1974 is Techniques and applications of plasma chemistry. [5] In the 1970s, Bell started his work in catalysis; [5] an older mentor offered him a research grant as long as the work was done on catalysts. [1] A lot of Bell's work was done with an infrared spectrometer and studying the rate of oxidative reactions over metal catalysts. [1] Bell and a colleague completed their research on ethylene epoxidation, which was published in 1975 in the Journal of Catalysis . [1] In 1975, Bell became the Principal Investigator in the Chemical Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. [1] In the mid 1970s, Bell's catalysis research gained attention from other surface-chemistry chemists. [1] Bell collaborated with many chemists doing work in surface catalytic reactions throughout his career. [5]

Bell has been recognized for many rewards throughout his entire career. Bell was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. [1] Bell has been highly recognized by his Chinese and Russian peers who have granted him many honorary awards. [1] Bell has continued his work in heterogenous catalysts and more recently has made an impact with his work in quantum chemistry modeling of catalytic activity sites and metal oxides as catalysts. [1] In the time Bell has worked at UC Berkeley, he has been the Editor in Chief of Catalysis Reviews - Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering Science and was appointed chair of a Panel on New Directions in Catalytic Science and Technology for the National Research Council from 1989 to 1991. [6] Bell also held a workshop of the report Catalysis Looks to the Future, which had many reports presented to the house and senate committees dealing with science and technology. [6]

Research

Some of Bell's earliest work was done on the techniques and applications of plasma chemistry. [5] Bell moved on to look at mechanisms of oxidation processes through infrared spectroscopic techniques. Bell was known for his process when performing research: "identify important questions; master the spectroscopic and numerical tools needed to address the problem; determine the detailed reaction chemistry; and then share with the community the relationship between the reaction chemistry and process performance." [5] Air pollution was a major societal problem in the 1970s and catalytic reactions offered a solution to removing harmful pollutants from car exhausts. [7] Bell looked at the oxidation/reduction of certain COx and NOx through absorption on metal catalysts. This could help lower the CO pollution that was found coming out of automobiles. [8]

Bell started with his research by looking at adsorbed species on metal catalysts by using infrared techniques. Bell wanted to study the mechanism and rates of these reactions to characterize the species that forms on the surface. [8] One of Bell's most impactful work from the 1970s was the identification of surface structures on a silver catalyst during the oxidation of ethylene. He was able to provide a mechanism of the epoxidation process and qualitatively explain the kinetics of the oxidation reaction. [9] From this work he continued on looking at CO and CO2 hydrocarbon synthesis over silica-Ru catalysts. The main purpose of this work was to truly understand the rate determining steps and how hydrocarbons form at the silica-Ru surface from Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. [10]

In the 1980s, Bell continued looking at Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over Ru catalysts to look at the growth of hydrocarbon chains based from carbon monoxide hydrogenation to methanol. [11] [5] The work continued on to look at adsorption reactions of NO and CO on metal catalysts. [12] This work helped Bell determine the key rate-determining steps happening at the surface of the metal catalyst. [13] Bell's work started looking at mathematical based methods to describe resist spin coating. [14] These models combined with the growth of hydrocarbons over metal catalysts lead to his work on silica surfaces, which lead to his work on zeolites. [15] By the end of the 1980s, Bell was incorporating Raman and NMR spectroscopy techniques to analyze zeolite structures in alumina-silicate solutions. [12] The Bell group discovered how metal zeolite crystallites transformed in the reaction environment, the interactions in the environment and the change of species over time. [5]

Bell continued his work with oxidation of hydrocarbons by looking at vanadium oxide catalysts and analyzing them through Raman spectroscopy. [16] He continued through the 1990s looking at zeolites as catalysts and different adsorption of aromatic hydrocarbons on the surface. Bell was able to thermodynamically and mechanistically describe the absorption of aromatic hydrocarbons on the surface of silicate zeolites. [17] Bell wanted to study reduction and oxidation reactions of hydrocarbons on aluminosilicate zeolite surfaces. [18] By the end of the 1990s, Bell had come up with techniques that allowed him to synthesize these aluminosilicate zeolites [19] and identify the species involved in synthesis through NMR techniques. [20]

In the early 2000, Bell submitted his work on heterogenous catalysts and could describe the reduction and oxidation of nanoparticles through catalytic reactions to reduce the amount CO pollution. [21] His current research work is being done on the quantum models of thin film catalysts. Bell's research also went on to look at the electrochemical evolution of oxygen and found how metals could enhance the metal oxide activity for the electrochemical evolution. [22] Bell continues to find efficient ways of catalyzing the electrolysis of water using quantum models to analyze the absorbed species on the metal catalyzed by different spectroscopic techniques. [23] Bell has been a pioneer throughout the years working on oxidation/reduction reactions of CO and NO to understand the selectivity and limiting factors.

Honors and awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catalysis</span> Process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction

Catalysis is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst. Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quickly, very small amounts of catalyst often suffice; mixing, surface area, and temperature are important factors in reaction rate. Catalysts generally react with one or more reactants to form intermediates that subsequently give the final reaction product, in the process of regenerating the catalyst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haber process</span> Main process of ammonia production

The Haber process, also called the Haber–Bosch process, is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia. It is named after its inventors, the German chemists: Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first decade of the 20th century. The process converts atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) by a reaction with hydrogen (H2) using a metal catalyst under high temperatures and pressures. This reaction is slightly exothermic (i.e. it releases energy), meaning that the reaction is favoured at lower temperatures and higher pressures. It decreases entropy, complicating the process. Hydrogen is produced via steam reforming, followed by an iterative closed cycle to react hydrogen with nitrogen to produce ammonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inorganic chemistry</span> Field of chemistry

Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disciplines is far from absolute, as there is much overlap in the subdiscipline of organometallic chemistry. It has applications in every aspect of the chemical industry, including catalysis, materials science, pigments, surfactants, coatings, medications, fuels, and agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gábor A. Somorjai</span> American chemist

Gabor A. Somorjai is a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a leading researcher in the field of surface chemistry and catalysis, especially the catalytic effects of metal surfaces on gas-phase reactions. For his contributions to the field, Somorjai won the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1998, the Linus Pauling Award in 2000, the National Medal of Science in 2002, the Priestley Medal in 2008, the 2010 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Science and the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 2013. In April 2015, Somorjai was awarded the American Chemical Society's William H. Nichols Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heterogeneous catalysis</span> Type of catalysis involving reactants & catalysts in different phases of matter

In chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis is catalysis where the phase of catalysts differs from that of the reactants or products. The process contrasts with homogeneous catalysis where the reactants, products and catalyst exist in the same phase. Phase distinguishes between not only solid, liquid, and gas components, but also immiscible mixtures, or anywhere an interface is present.

The water–gas shift reaction (WGSR) describes the reaction of carbon monoxide and water vapor to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen:

Nanomaterial-based catalysts are usually heterogeneous catalysts broken up into metal nanoparticles in order to enhance the catalytic process. Metal nanoparticles have high surface area, which can increase catalytic activity. Nanoparticle catalysts can be easily separated and recycled. They are typically used under mild conditions to prevent decomposition of the nanoparticles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hugh Emmett</span> American chemical engineer (1900–1985)

Paul Hugh Emmett was an American chemist best known for his pioneering work in the field of catalysis and for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He spearheaded the research to separate isotopes of uranium and to develop a corrosive uranium gas. Emmett also made significant contributions to BET Theory which explains the relationship between surface area and gas adsorption. He served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University for 23 years throughout his scientific career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodium(III) oxide</span> Chemical compound

Rhodium(III) oxide (or Rhodium sesquioxide) is the inorganic compound with the formula Rh2O3. It is a gray solid that is insoluble in ordinary solvents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manganese(II,III) oxide</span> Chemical compound

Manganese(II,III) oxide is the chemical compound with formula Mn3O4. Manganese is present in two oxidation states +2 and +3 and the formula is sometimes written as MnO·Mn2O3. Mn3O4 is found in nature as the mineral hausmannite.

Kathleen C. Taylor is a chemist who won the Garvan–Olin Medal in 1989, and is notable for developing catalytic converters for cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfons Baiker</span> Swiss Chemist specializing in Catalysis

Alfons Baiker is a Swiss Chemist specializing in Catalysis. Baiker studied chemistry at ETH Zurich. After obtaining his PhD in 1974 he followed several post-doctoral stays at various universities. In 1989 he became a full professor in catalysis and reaction engineering at ETH where he worked until his retirement in 2010.

Paul Ratnasamy is an Indian catalyst scientist, INSA Srinivasa Ramanujan Research Professor and a former director of National Chemical Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He was honored by the Government of India, in 2001, with one of the highest Indian civilian awards of Padma Shri.

Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos was a Greek chemical engineer and, at the time of her death, had been the Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability and a Distinguished Professor at Tufts University. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos had also been the Raytheon Professor of Pollution Prevention at Tufts. She published more than 160 scientific articles with over 14,000 citations as of April 2018. She was a Fellow of AIChE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She lived in the Greater Boston Area with her husband, Professor Gregory Stephanopoulos of MIT.

Yang Shao-Horn is a Chinese American scholar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and a member of Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is known for research on understanding and controlling of processes for storing electrons in chemical bonds towards zero-carbon energy and chemicals.

The electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) effect in the realm of chemistry refers to the pronounced enhancement of catalytic reactions or significant changes in the catalytic properties of a conductive catalyst in the presence of electrical currents or interfacial potentials. Also known as Non-faradaic electrochemical modification of catalytic activity (the NEMCA effect), it can increase in catalytic activity (up to 90-fold) and selectivity of a gas exposed electrode on a solid electrolyte cell upon application of a potential. This phenomenon is well documented and has been observed on various surfaces (Ni, Au, Pt, Pd, IrO2, RuO2) supported by O2−, Na+ and proton conducting solid electrolytes.

Raymond John Gorte is an American chemical engineer, currently the Russel Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Endowed Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) and Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) at the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout his career at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota, he has advanced the study of fuel cells and catalysts including heterogeneous metals and zeolite materials. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Dionisios G. Vlachos is an American chemical engineer, the Allan & Myra Ferguson Endowed Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware and director of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, a U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Frontiers Research Center. Throughout his career at University of Delaware and the University of Minnesota, he has advanced the study of catalysts and reaction engineering including catalytic applications in biomass utilization, alkane conversion and zeolites. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of the Wilhelm Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2011).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jingguang Chen</span> Chinese-American chemical engineer

Jingguang Chen is a Chinese-American chemical engineer. He is the Thayer Lindsley Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, with a joint appointment as Senior Chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. Over the course of his career Chen has made significant contributions to the fundamental understanding and use of novel materials for catalytic and electrocatalytic applications. Central to his research efforts have been the development of bimetallic and transition metal carbide catalysts that eliminate or significantly reduce the loading of expensive precious metals.

Steven L. Suib is an American inorganic chemist, academic and researcher. He is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at University of Connecticut. He is a director of the Institute of Materials Science and of the Center for Advanced Microscopy and Materials Analysis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Eardley-Pryor, Roger (2020-08-06). "Alexis T. Bell: A Career in Catalysis and University Administration at UC Berkeley". UC Berkeley Library Update. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  2. 1 2 "Alexis T. Bell | Research UC Berkeley" . Retrieved 2021-10-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Alexis T. Bell". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2021-10-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ Bell, Alexis T. (1967). Chemical reaction in a radiofrequency discharge : the oxidation of hydrogen chloride (Thesis thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/12375.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Celik, Fuat E.; Peters, Baron; Coppens, Marc-Olivier; McCormick, Alon; Hicks, Robert F.; Ekerdt, John (2017-12-01). "A Career in Catalysis: Alexis T. Bell". ACS Catalysis. 7 (12): 8628–8640. doi:10.1021/acscatal.7b03218.
  6. 1 2 3 "Professor Alexis T. Bell is the recipient of the 2018 NACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Catalysis | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  7. ↑ US EPA, OA. "EPA's Position on the Energy Crisis". archive.epa.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  8. 1 2 London, J (October 1973). "Infrared spectra of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen adsorbed on copper oxide". Journal of Catalysis. 31 (1): 32–40. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(73)90267-4.
  9. ↑ Force, E (December 1975). "The relationship of adsorbed species observed by infrared spectroscopy to the mechanism of ethylene oxidation over silver". Journal of Catalysis. 40 (3): 356–371. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(75)90267-5.
  10. ↑ Ekerdt, J (June 1979). "Synthesis of hydrocarbons from CO and H2 over silica-supported Ru: Reaction rate measurements and infrared spectra of adsorbed species". Journal of Catalysis. 58 (2): 170–187. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(79)90255-0.
  11. ↑ Ekerdt, J (March 1980). "Evidence for intermediates involved in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over Ru". Journal of Catalysis. 62 (1): 19–25. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(80)90416-9.
  12. 1 2 Duncan, T (May 1985). "The characterization of carbonaceous species on ruthenium catalysts with 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy". Journal of Catalysis. 93 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(85)90146-0.
  13. ↑ Winslow, Philip; Bell, Alexis T. (1985-08-01). "Studies of carbon- and hydrogen-containing adspecies present during CO hydrogenation over unsupported Ru, Ni and Rh". Journal of Catalysis. 94 (2): 385–399. doi:10.1016/0021-9517(85)90204-0. ISSN   0021-9517.
  14. ↑ Flack, Warren W.; Soong, David S.; Bell, Alexis T.; Hess, Dennis W. (1984-08-15). "A mathematical model for spin coating of polymer resists". Journal of Applied Physics. 56 (4): 1199–1206. doi:10.1063/1.334049. ISSN   0021-8979.
  15. ↑ McCormick, A. v.; Bell, A. T. (February 1989). "The Solution Chemistry of Zeolite Precursors". Catalysis Reviews. 31 (1–2): 97–127. doi:10.1080/01614948909351349. ISSN   0161-4940.
  16. ↑ Went, Gregory T.; Oyama, S. Ted.; Bell, Alexis T. (May 1990). "Laser Raman spectroscopy of supported vanadium oxide catalysts". The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 94 (10): 4240–4246. doi:10.1021/j100373a067. ISSN   0022-3654.
  17. ↑ Snurr, Randall Q.; Bell, Alexis T.; Theodorou, Doros N. (December 1993). "Prediction of adsorption of aromatic hydrocarbons in silicalite from grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations with biased insertions". The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 97 (51): 13742–13752. doi:10.1021/j100153a051. ISSN   0022-3654.
  18. ↑ Lobree, Lisa J.; Hwang, In-Chul; Reimer, Jeffrey A.; Bell, Alexis T. (September 1999). "Investigations of the State of Fe in H–ZSM-5". Journal of Catalysis. 186 (2): 242–253. doi:10.1006/jcat.1999.2548.
  19. ↑ McCormick, A.V.; Bell, A.T.; Radke, C.J. (May 1987). "Quantitative determination of siliceous species in sodium silicate solutions by 29Si n.m.r. spectroscopy". Zeolites. 7 (3): 183–190. doi:10.1016/0144-2449(87)90048-0.
  20. ↑ Bell, Alexis T. (1999-11-01). "NMR applied to zeolite synthesis". Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 158 (1): 221–234. doi:10.1016/S0927-7757(99)00149-1. ISSN   0927-7757.
  21. ↑ Bell, Alexis T. (2003-03-14). "The Impact of Nanoscience on Heterogeneous Catalysis". Science. 299 (5613): 1688–1691. doi:10.1126/science.1083671. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   12637733. S2CID   35805920.
  22. ↑ Yeo, Boon Siang; Bell, Alexis T. (2011-04-13). "Enhanced Activity of Gold-Supported Cobalt Oxide for the Electrochemical Evolution of Oxygen". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 133 (14): 5587–5593. doi:10.1021/ja200559j. ISSN   0002-7863. PMID   21413705.
  23. ↑ Louie, Mary W.; Bell, Alexis T. (2013-08-21). "An Investigation of Thin-Film Ni–Fe Oxide Catalysts for the Electrochemical Evolution of Oxygen". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 135 (33): 12329–12337. doi:10.1021/ja405351s. ISSN   0002-7863. PMID   23859025. S2CID   207099439.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Alexis T. Bell | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.