Javier PÉREZ-RAMÍREZ
Director of NUS Flagship Green Energy Programme
2019 - 03/2022
Professor Pérez-Ramírez (1974) pursues the discovery and understanding of catalytic materials and process concepts, leading to improved technologies for the sustainable manufacture of chemicals and fuels. Specific emphasis is placed on tackling current and future energy, resource, and environmental challenges of society. His team strives for the establishment of structure-function relationships of chemical processes at different length and time scales, combining scalable catalyst synthesis with advanced characterization and evaluation under relevant conditions. The main topics of interest include the valorization of renewables, carbon dioxide, and natural gas into energy carriers and intermediates using tailored nano- and mesostructured materials.
- PhD Catalysis (cum laude), Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2002
- MSc in Chemical Engineering with highest distinction, University of Alicante, Spain, 1997
2020 College of Engineering Distinguished Lecturer, Nanyang Technological University, SG
2019 Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis, North American Catalysis Society, US
2019 Distinguished Lecturer, Beijing Institute of Technology, China
2018 Xingda Lectureship, Peking University, China
2017 Sustainable Energy Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
2014 Beilby Medal and Prize, Society of Chemical Industry and Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
2013 EFCATS Young Researcher Award, European Federation of Catalysis Societies
2013 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
• Natural gas functionalization
• Catalytic CO2 valorization
• Single-atom catalysis
• Catalyst scale up
• Digital catalysis
- Laser-Microstructured Copper Reveals Selectivity Patterns in the Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2. F.L.P. Veenstra, N. Ackerl, A.J. Martín, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Chem 2020, in press (doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2020.04.001)
- Nanostructuring unlocks high performance of platinum single-atom catalysts for stable vinyl chloride production. K. Kaiser, E. Fako, G. Manzocchi, F. Krumeich, R. Hauert, A.H. Clark, O.V. Safonova, N. López, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Catal.2020, 3, 376-385 (doi:10.1038/s41929-020-0431-3, front cover, highlighted in Chemistry World)
- Plant-to-planet analysis of CO2-based methanol processes. González-Garay, M.S. Frei, A. Al-Qahtani, C. Mondelli, G. Guillén-Gosálbez, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Energy Environ. Sci.2019, 12, 3425-3436 (doi:10.1039/C9EE01673B, inside back cover)
- Atomic-scale engineering of indium oxide promotion by palladium for methanol production via CO2 M.S. Frei, C. Mondelli, R. Garcia-Muelas, K.S. Kley, B. Puértolas, N. López, O. Safonova, J.A. Stewart, D. CurullaFerré, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Commun.2019, 10:3377 (doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11349-9)
- Halogen-dependent surface confinement governs selective alkane functionalization to olefins. Zichittella, M. Scharfe, B. Puértolas, V. Paunović, P. Hemberger, A. Bodi, L. Szentmiklósi, N. López, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2019, 58, 5877-5881 (doi:10.1002/anie.201811669, hot paper, front cover, highlighted in ChemViews)
- Selective ensembles in supported palladium sulfide nanoparticles for alkyne semi-hydrogenation
Albani, M. Shahrokhi, Z. Chen, S. Mitchell, R. Hauert, N. López, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Commun.2018, 9:2634 (doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05052-4, read behind the paper) - A heterogeneous single-atom palladium catalyst surpassing homogeneous systems for Suzuki coupling. Chen, E. Vorobyeva, S. Mitchell, E. Fako, M.A. Ortuño, N. López, S.M. Collins, P.A. Midgley, S. Richard, G. Vilé, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Nanotechnol.2018, 13, 702-707 (doi:10.1038/s41565-018-0167-2, highlighted by ETH News, C&EN, Nature Catalysis)
- Evidence of radical chemistry in catalytic methane oxybromination. Paunović, P. Hemberger, A. Bodi, N. López, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Catal.2018, 1, 363-370 (doi:10.1038/s41929-018-0071-z)
- Catalyst design for natural gas upgrading via oxybromination chemistry. Paunović, G. Zichittella, M. Moser, A.P. Amrute, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Chem.2016, 8, 803-809 (doi:10.1038/nchem.2522)
- Mesopore quality determines the lifetime of hierarchically-structured zeolite catalysts. M. Milina, S. Mitchell, P. Crivelli, D. Cooke, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Nat. Commun. 2014, 5:3922 (doi:10.1038/ncomms4922)