Franklin Tao
Contact Info
Email: ftao@nd.eduPhone: 574-631-1394
Office: 132A Nieuwland
Website: http://www.nd.edu/~ftao/
Affiliations
Summary of Activities/Interests
N/A
Education
PhD., Princeton University, 2006
Biography
Our research focuses on establishing intrinsic connections between the structure and chemical state of materials and their catalytic properties. This research uses in-situ techniques to study catalysis in connection with solar energy conversion, fuel cell technologies, and pollution control.
Our catalysis studies utilize state-of-art new techniques including in-situ high pressure scanning probe microscopy with the capability of in-situ visualizing surface structure and measuring catalytic activity and product selectivity, as well as laboratory-based ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy in-situ tracking surface chemistry under reaction conditions and on-line catalytic measurements. These techniques offer in-situ information at the atomic or molecular level for important processes of energy conversion. The research projects include (1) synthesis of nanostructured catalytic materials with controllable composition and structure for energy applications, (2) studies of the structure and function of catalytic materials under reaction conditions with high pressure scanning probe microscopy and in-situ catalytic measurements, and (3) exploring chemical reactions of energy conversion occurring at the solid-gas and even the solid-liquid interfaces of catalytic systems using in-situ ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy and on-line measurement of catalytic products. The goal of our research projects is to develop efficient nanocomposite catalytic systems using syntheses that build on the atomic level information obtained from our in-situ studies.
