Nicholas A Brunelli Catalytic Material Design Group
Sustainable Catalytic Material Design Group
Synthesis, characterization, and testing of heterogeneous catalytic materials
Link List
Sustainable Catalytic Material Design Group
Our research focuses on achieving atomic level control of the catalytic active sites in heterogeneous materials using advanced synthetic methods to create novel designs and materials and understand how these novel materials assemble. These materials are interrogated through spectroscopic techniques that enable improved design.
Faculty Bio
- PhD 2010, California Institute of Technology, NSF Graduate Research Fellow
- 2013, Emory University, Postdoctoral Fellow
- 2010-13, Georgia Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Fellow
- BS 2004, The Ohio State University, National Merit Scholar
Named the H.C. “Slip” Slider Professor in the fall of 2018, Brunelli is currently one of only seven endowed professors in the College of Engineering.
Professor Brunelli's group advances our understanding of catalytic materials at the atomic level to convert abundant petroleum and biomass resources with high selectivity to valuable chemical and fuels.
His research focuses on achieving atomic level control of the catalytic active sites in heterogeneous materials by creating novel designs and using advanced synthetic methods. These materials are interrogated through spectroscopic techniques that enable improved design
His work has led to the scalable production of nanomaterials and an advanced understanding of molecular interactions that impact immobilized catalysts.
National Honors
ACS Energy & Fuels
- 2021 Emerging Investigator
RSC Molecular Systems Design and Engineering:
- 2020 Influential Researcher Award
AIChE Futures as recognized by AIChE Journal
- 2019 AIChE Futures
Royal Society of Chemistry:
- Emerging Investigator, 2019
Organic Reaction Catalysis Society (ORCS):
- 2019 Robert Augustine Award
RSC Reaction Chemistry & Engineering:
- 2019 Emerging Investigator
American Chemical Society:
- 2018 Class of Influential Researchers
National Science Foundation:
- NSF CAREER Award, 2017
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-07
National Merit Scholar:
- 2000
Key Distinctions
- H.C. "Slip" Slider Professorship
Industry
- Dow Outstanding Junior Award in Chemical Engineering, 2003
University Honors
The Ohio State University:
- Inaugural Cohort for the Growing Research Opportunities Academy (GRO), The Ohio State University Office of Research, 2021
Ohio State University College of Engineering:
- Lumley Research Award, 2019
William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering:
- Named H.C. 'Slip' Slider Professor, 2018
- AIChE Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Award in Chemical Engineering, 2001
- Outstanding Senior Chemical Engineering Alumni Award, 2002
Chronological Listing:
- 2020 Influential Researcher Award, Molecular Systems Design and Engineering
- 2019 AIChE Futures, AIChE Journal
- 2019 Emerging Investigator, RSC Reaction Chemistry & Engineering
- 2019 College of Engineering Lumley Research Award
- 2018 Class of Influential Researchers, American Chemical Society Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
- Appointed to the H.C. Slip Slider Professorship, Fall 2018
- NSF CAREER Award, 2017
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-2007
- Outstanding Senior Chemical Engineering Alumni Award, 2004
- Dow Outstanding Junior Award in Chemical Engineering, 2002
- AIChE Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Award in Chemical Engineering, 2001
- National Merit Finalist, 2000
Research
Currently investigating structure-function relationships to elucidate mechanistic insights into catalytic reactions. This is challenging since most heterogeneous catalysts contain a non-uniform distribution of catalytic sites. We use homogeneous synthesis techniques to create materials with more uniform catalytic sites. Through tuning these materials on the atomic level, we are able to produce more uniform catalytic sites. The uniformity of the catalytic sites enables more active and selective catalysts to be designed and realized. The work has the potential to transform the production of valuable chemicals derived from petroleum and biomass sources.
Research
Heterogenerous Catalysts for Selective Biomass Conversion
Innovation: Nicholas Brunelli created aminosilica materials capable of selective isomerization of glucose to fructose. This novel design of a bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst increases selective dehydration of fructose to HMF.
Impact: Combined catalysts would enable production of HMF, the most important target for biomass valorization.
In 2018 Brunelli elucidated structure-function relationships for heterogeneous catalytic materials for glucose isomerizaton.
This discovery will enable the sustainable conversion of biomass into chemicals.
Group Members
Group Members
Doctoral Students (Ph.D.)
Jee-Yee Chen
- Degree: 2023 Ph.D.
- Career: Post-doc student with a Full-time position at Intel Corporation starting 2024
Alexander P. Spanos
- Degree: 2022 Ph.D.
- Career: Full-time employee of Oakwood Chemical
Ashwin Kane
- Degree: 2022 Ph.D.
- Career: Full-time employee of Intel Corporation
Pinaki Ranadive
- Degree: 2021 Ph.D.
- Career: Full-time employee of Regeneron
Mariah Whitaker
- Degree: 2019 Ph.D.
- Career: Full-time employee of Owens Corning
Aamena Parulkar
- Degree: 2018 Ph.D.
- Career: Full-time employee of Intel Corporation
Nitish Deshpande
- Degree: 2018 Ph.D.
- Dissertation title: "Catalytic Material Design: Design Factors Affecting Catalyst Performance for Biomass and Fine Chemical Applications."
- Career: Full-time employee of Intel Corporation
- Notable achievements:
- Recipient of AIChE CRE travel award (only 10 doctoral students per year receive this award
- Critical talent retention award at Intel Corporation
Masters Students (MS)
Mike Brizes
- Degree: 2022 Masters
- Career activities: Full-time employee of Teledyne
Joseph Kolb
- Degree: 2021 Masters
- Dissertation title: Nanosheet Sn-MFI for the Efficient Ring Opening of Bulky Epoxides
- Career activities: Full-time employee of U.S. Coast Guard
Medha Kasula
- Degree: 2020 Masters
- Dissertation title: Synthesis and catalytic testing of Sn-MFI zeolite crystallized using different tin precursors
- Career activities: Continued graduate education at University of Alabama
Rutuja Joshi
- Degree: 2017 Masters
- Dissertation title: Synthesis and Catalytic Testing of Lewis Acidic Nano-MFI Zeolites to Overcome Diffusion Limitations
- Career activities: Full-time employee of Intel Corporation
Undergraduate Students
- Khalil Tran
- Rawad Ahmad
- Justin Hopkins
- Alex Crecelius
- Richard Szczepaniak
- William Baumgart
- William Abrahms
- Alex Harrison
- Jay Mota
- Shuwei Lu
- Matt Galliger
- Nora Shaheen
- Michael Hines
- Emily Makowski
- AJ Wahlstrom
- Kyle Gersman
- Nate Olson
- Adrianna Schneider
- Michael Stenta
- Lagnajit "Lucky" Pattanaik
- Kory Sherman
- Brian Diep
- Steven Back
- Katie Ashley
Student and Alumni awards and honors
2020
- Vasiliki "Aliki" Kolliopoulos ('18), 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
2019
- Michael Hines and Montgomery Gray, Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, First Place
- Pinaki Ranadive, Ohio State Materials Week, Finalist, Three-Minute Thesis
2018
- Nitish Deshpande, AIChE Travel Award, Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division
- Nathaniel Olson, AIChE Poster Award, Third Place-Catalysis. Also received the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship to support his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Vasiliki "Aliki" Kolliopoulos, AIChE Poster Award, First Place, Food, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology division.
2017
- Lagnajit Pattanaik, Goldwater Scholar. Also received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention.
2016
Lagnajit ("Lucky") Pattanaik and Kory Sherman won 2nd Place in the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Publications
2023
46
M. Brizes, J.-Y. Chen, H. Pineault, N.A. Brunelli,* “Evaluating the per site activity of common mesoporous materials as supports for aminosilica catalysts for the aldol reaction and condensation.” Applied Catalysis A: General., 2023, 650, 118997. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2022.118997)
2022
45
J.-Y. Chen, H. Pineault N.A. Brunelli,* “Quantifying the fraction and activity of different types of catalytic sites at different surface densities of aminosilanes in SBA-15 for the aldol reaction and condensation,” J. Catalysis, 2022, 413, 1048-1055. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2022.08.015)
44
N. Deshpande, J.-Y. Chen, E.H. Cho, T. Kobayashi, L.-C. Lin, H. Pineault, N.A. Brunelli,* “Tuning micropore volume of SBA-15 to enhance catalytic activity,” J. Catalysis (accepted).
43
M. Kasula, A.P. Spanos, N.A. Brunelli,* “Investigating the impact of synthesis conditions to increase yield and tin inclusion for Lewis acid nano-Sn-MFI zeolites,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 61, 5, 1977-1984. (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.iecr.1c03979)
2021
42
J.-Y. Chen, N.A. Brunelli,* “Investigating the impact of microporosity of aminosilica catalysts in coupling reactions for biomass upgrading to fuel,” Energy & Fuels, 2021, 35, 18, 14885-14893.
41
P. Ranadive, Z. Blanchette, A. Spanos, W. Medlin, N.A. Brunelli,* “Scalable synthesis of selective hydrodeoxygenation core@shell Pd@TiO2 nanocatalysts,” J. Flow Chemistry, 2021, 11, 393-406.
40
A. Spanos, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Enhancing hydrophobicity and catalytic activity of nano-Sn-Beta for alcohol ring opening of epoxides through post-synthetic treatment with fluoride,” J. Catalysis, 2021, 404, 430-439.
2020
39
M. Gray, M. Hines, M. Parsutkar, A.J. Wahlstrom, N.A. Brunelli,* T.V. RajanBabu,* “On the Mechanism of Cobalt-Catalyzed Heterodimerization of Acrylates and 1,3-Dienes. Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis and A Potential Role of Cationic Cobalt(I) Intermediates” ACS Catalysis, 2020, 10 (7), 4337-4348.
38
M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose in the presence of an acid-functionalized SBA-15 catalyst modified with a sulfoxide polymer,” Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, 2020, 5, 257-268.
2019
37
A. Kane, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Impact of surface loading on catalytic activity of regular and low Micropore SBA-15 in the Knoevenagel Condensation,” AIChE Journal, 2019, 65 (12), e16791.
36
A. Parulkar, A.P. Spanos, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Synthesis and catalytic testing of Lewisacidic nano zeolite Beta for epoxide ring opening with alcohols,” Applied Catalysis A: General, 2019, 577, 28-34.
35
N. Deshpande, E.H. Cho, A.P. Spanos, L.-C. Lin, N.A. Brunelli,* “Tuning Molecular Structure of Tertiary Amine Catalysts for Glucose Isomerization,” J. Catalysis, 2019, 372, 119-127.
34
P. Ranadive, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Jet-Mixing Reactor for the Production of MonodisperseSilver Nanoparticles Using a Reduced Amount of Capping Agent,” Reaction Chemistry and Engineering, 2019, 4 (10), 1779-1789.
33
M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, P. Ranadive, R. Joshi, N.A. Brunelli,* “Examining Acid FormationDuring the Selective Dehydration of Fructose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in DMSO and Water,”ChemSusChem, 2019, 12 (10), 2211-2219.
32
N. Olson, N. Deshpande, S. Gunduz, U.S. Ozkan, N.A. Brunelli,* “Utilizing Imogolite Nanotubes asa Tunable Catalytic Material for the Selective Isomerization of Glucose to Fructose,” CatalysisToday, 2019, 323, 69-75.
31
N. Deshpande, A. Parulkar, R. Joshi, B. Diep, A. Kulkarni, N.A. Brunelli,* “Epoxide ring openingwith alcohols using heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts: Mechanism and Regioselectivity,” J. Catalysis, 2019, 370, 46-54.
2018
30
A. Parulkar, R. Joshi, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Synthesis and Catalytic Testing of LewisAcidic Nano-MFI Zeolites for the Epoxide Ring Opening Reaction with Alcohol,” Applied CatalysisA: General, 2018, 566, 25-32.
29
A. Parulkar, J.A. Thompson, M. Hurt, B.-Z. Zhan, N.A. Brunelli,* “Improving HydrodenitrogenationCatalyst Performance through Analyzing Hydrotreated Vacuum Gas Oil Using Ion Mobility-MassSpectrometry,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2018, 57 (27), 8845-8854.
2017
28
A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “High-Yield Synthesis of ZIF-8 Nanoparticles Using StoichiometricReactants in a Jet-Mixing Reactor,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 2017, 56 (37),10384-10392.
27
N. Deshpande, L. Pattanaik, M.R. Whitaker, C.-T. Yang, L.-C. Lin, N.A. Brunelli,* “SelectivelyConverting Glucose to Fructose Using Immobilized Tertiary Amines.” J. Catalysis, 2017, 353, 205-210.
2015
26
E.G. Moschetta, S. Negretti, K.M. Chepiga, N.A. Brunelli, Y. Labreche, Y. Feng, F. Rezaei, R.P.Lively, W.J. Koros, H.M.L. Davies,* and C.W. Jones.* "Composite Polymer/Oxide Hollow FiberContactors: Versatile and Scalable Flow Reactors for Heterogeneous Catalytic Reactions in OrganicSynthesis." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2015, 54 (22), 6470-6474.
25
L. Espinal, M.L. Green, D.A. Fischer, D.M. DeLongchamp, C. Jaye, J.C. Horn, M.A. Sakwa-Novak,W. Chaikittisilp, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones. “Interrogating the Carbon and Oxygen K-edgeNEXAFS of a CO2-dosed Hyperbranched Aminosilica.” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2015,6 (1), 148-152.
24
E.G. Moschetta, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones. “Reaction-dependent heteroatom modification of acid-base catalytic cooperativity in aminosilica materials.” Applied Catalysis A: General 2015, 504 (5),429-439.
2014
23
A.J. Brown, N.A. Brunelli, K. Eum, F. Rashidi, J.R. Johnson, W.J. Koros, C.W. Jones, S. Nair.“Interfacial Microfluidic Processing of Metal-Organic Framework Hollow Fiber Membranes.”Science. 2014, 345 (6192), 72-75.
22
D.-Y. Kang, N.A. Brunelli, G.I. Yucelen, A. Venkatasubramanian, J. Zang, J. Leisen, P.J. Hesketh,C.W. Jones, S. Nair. “Direct Synthesis of Single-Walled Aluminosilicate Nanotubes with EnhancedMolecular Adsorption Selectivity.” Nature Communication 2014, 5, 1-9.
21
B.R. Pimental, A. Parulkar, E. Zhou, N.A. Brunelli,* R.P. Lively.* “Zeolite ImidazolateFrameworks: Next-Generation Materials for Energy-Efficient Gas Separations.” ChemSusChem2014, 7 (12), 3202- 3240.
20
S.A. Didas, R. Zhu, N.A. Brunelli, D.S. Sholl, C.W. Jones. “Thermal, Oxidative, and CO2 InducedDegradation of Primary Amines used for CO2 Capture: Effect of Alkyl Linker on Stability,” Journalof Physical Chemistry C. 2014, 118 (23), 12302-12311.
19
J.A. Thompson, J.T. Vaughn, N.A. Brunelli, W.J. Koros, C.W. Jones, S. Nair. "Mixed-linker zeoliticimidazolate framework mixed-matrix membranes for aggressive CO2 separation from natural gas,"Microporous and Mesoporous Materials. 2014, 192, 43-51.
18
H.J. Kim, N.A. Brunelli, A.J. Brown, K.S. Jang, W. Kim, F. Rashidi, J.R. Johnson, W.J. Koros, C.W.Jones, S. Nair. “Silylated Mesoporous Silica Membranes on Polymeric Hollow Fiber Supports:Synthesis and Permeation Properties,” ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2014, 6 (20), 17877-17886.
2013
17
N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones, (2013), “Tuning Acid-Base Cooperativity to Create Next GenerationSilica- Supported Organocatalysts.” J. Catalysis 308, 60-72.
16
N.A. Brunelli,* E.L. Neiholdt, K.P. Giapis, R.C. Flagan, J.L. Beauchamp, (2013) “Continuous FlowIon Mobility Separation with Mass Spectrometric Detection Using a Nano-Radial DifferentialMobility Analyzer at Low Flow Rates.” Analytical Chemistry (DOI: 10.1021/ac3032417).
15
W. Long, N.A. Brunelli, E.W. Ping, C.W. Jones. “A Single-Component Hybrid Pd Catalyst for theHighly-Selective Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes,” ACS Catalysis 2013, 3 (8), 1700-1708.
14
K.M. Chepiga, Y. Fan, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones, H.M.L. Davies. “Silica-Immobilized ChiralDirhodium (II) Catalyst for Enantioselective Carbenoid Reactions,” Organic Letters 2013, 15 (24),6136-6139.
13
D.M. Holunga, N.A. Brunelli, R.C. Flagan. “A Tool for Uniform Coating of 300 mm Wafers with Nanoparticles,” Journal of Nanoparticle Research 2013, 15 (11), 1-10.
12
A. Varga, M. Pfohl, N.A. Brunelli, M. Schreier, K. Giapis, S. Haile. "Carbon nanotubes as electronicinterconnects in solid acid fuel cell electrodes," Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2013, 15 (37), 15470-15476.
11
J.A. Thompson, N.A. Brunelli, R.P. Lively, J.R. Johnson, C.W. Jones, S. Nair. “Tunable CO2Adsorbents by Mixed-Linker Synthesis and Postsynthetic Modification of Zeolitic ImidazolateFrameworks.” Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2013, 117 (16), 8198-8207.
2012
10
N.A. Brunelli, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones. “Cooperative Catalysis with Acid-Base BifunctionalMesoporous Silica: Impact of Grafting and Co-condensation Synthesis Methods on MaterialStructure and Catalytic Properties.” Chemistry of Materials 2012, 24 (13), 2433-2442.
9
N.A. Brunelli, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones. “Effect of Linker Length on the CooperativeInteractions of Supported Amines in Catalysis and CO2 Capture,” Journal of the American ChemicalSociety 2012, 134 (34), 13950-13953.
8
N.A. Brunelli, W. Long, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones. “Catalytic Regioselective Epoxide Ring Opening with Phenol using Homogeneous and Supported Analogues of Dimethylaminopyridine.”Topics in Catalysis 2012, 55 (7-10), 432-438.
7
Y. Kuwahara, D.-Y. Kang, J. Copeland, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, P. Bollini, C. Sievers, T.Kamegawa, H. Yamashita, C.W. Jones. “Dramatic Enhancement of CO2 Uptake by Poly(ethyleneimine) Using Zirconosilica Supports,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 2012,134 (26), 10757-10760.
6
J.A. Thompson, C.R. Blad, N.A. Brunelli, M.E. Lydon, R.P. Lively, C.W. Jones, S. Nair. “HybridZeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: Controlling Framework Porosity and Functionality by Mixed-Linker Synthesis,” Chemistry of Materials 2012, 24 (10), 1930-1936.
5
P. Bollini, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, C.W. Jones. “Dynamics of CO2 Adsorption onto AmineAdsorbents. 1. Assessment of Heat Effects,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2012,51 (46), 15145- 15152.
4
P. Bollini, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, C.W. Jones. “Dynamics of CO2 Adsorption onto AmineAdsorbents. 2. Insights into Adsorbent Design,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research2012, 51 (46), 15153-15162.
2011
3
J. Jiang, M. Attoui, M. Heim, N.A. Brunelli, P. McMurry, G. Kasper, R.C. Flagan, K. Giapis, G.Mouret. “Transfer Functions and Penetrations of Five Differential Mobility Analyzers for Sub-2 nmParticle Classification.” Aerosol Science and Technology 2011, 45 (4), 480-492.
2010
2
A. Varga, N.A. Brunelli, M.W. Louie, K.P. Giapis, S.M. Haile. “Composite nanostructured solid-acidfuel- cell electrodes via electrospray deposition.” Journal of Materials Chemistry 2010, 20 (30),6309-6315.
2009
1
N.A. Brunelli, R.C. Flagan, K.P. Giapis. “Radial Differential Mobility Analyzer for One Nanometer Particle Classification.” Aerosol Science and Technology 2009, 43 (1), 53-59.
Lab News and Announcements
Interested in working with our group?
Graduate Research Assistant Positions
Students wanting to learn organic and inorganic synthetic techniques for creating catalytic materials. Highly motivated students will gain considerable skills in heterogeneous catalytic material synthesis, characterization, and catalytic testing with considerable opportunities to advance fundamental research in the field of catalysis. If you are interested, please contact Angela Bennett (bennett.234@osu.edu) for information about how to apply.
Highly motivated students wishing to complete an Honors thesis are invited to contact me directly to discuss research opportunities. Please send a copy of your CV.
Outreach and Activities
Outreach
Our group works with several campus partners to share our research experiences and insights with future generations of scientists, researchers, engineers, and citizens. We seek to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM and STEM-related fields. At the same time, we seek to create greater scientific awareness.
Currently, we work with Scientific Thinkers to promote STEM education.
Group Members Visit Purdue
2015-10-07
We had an invitation to learn about in situ spectroscopy methods from the experts at Purdue University. We were able to meet with many faculty (Fabio Ribiero, Raj Gounder, Jeff Miller, Jeff Greeley) and students (Atish, Ravi, and Phil). We were able to distill some important insights from our interactions. Here we are standing in front of a distillation column in the lobby of the Chemical Engineering building at Purdue.
(left to right) Nitish, Dr. Brunelli, Ravi (Purdue), Aamena, Phil (Purdue; former Ohio State undergrad), and Atish (Purdue) stand in front of an antique distillation column at Purdue University.