  | Chris Torreschris3 at Illinois dot edu |
Project Description: Liquid-phase oxidations are widely-used in industry for the production of industrial fluids and plastic precursors. These processes are typically performed over Ti-zeolite and mesoporous materials, which vary in pore size and hydrophobic environment. The choice of solvent and oxidant can dramatically affect product yield and selectivity. We make kinetic measurements using classical chemical engineering techniques and combine these experiments with UV-Vis, Raman, and IR spectroscopy, as well as calorimetry experiments to better understand how catalyst structure and choice of oxidant and solvent affect the selective oxidation of alkenes to epoxides in the liquid phase.