THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
PRESENTS
Professor Alexander Orlov
SUNY – Stony Brook University
Monday, November 11th, 2013
Seminar will be held in ST-160 (Lecture Hall) at 2:00 PM
Reception will be held in ST-312 from 3:00-3:30 PM
Development of a new generation of nanometer and
sub-nanometer catalysts for environmental and
energy applications
Developing novel nanostructures for environmental and energy application is an immensely exciting and
rewarding area of research. Tuning shape and size of nanoparticles/nanostructures can produce new catalysts
with the most striking properties. This can become even more promising when the size of the catalysts is
reduced to sub-nanometer dimensions. In the area of sustainable energy we have demonstrated that such
approach can produce catalysts with order/orders of magnitude higher activities as compared to that of
traditional catalysts. More specifically we studied gas phase/ liquid phase oxidation/reduction reactions
activated by light. In particular, the sub-nm range of noble metal nanoparticles (e.g., Au and Pt) supported on
oxides and sulfides was explored. The structure of the deposited nanparticles was characterized by combining
microscopy (TEM, STEM, STM) and first-principles electronic structures calculations.
Dr. Alexander Orlov is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at State University of New
York, Stony Brook, USA. He is also a faculty member of the Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental
Research and affiliate faculty of Chemistry Department. In addition Dr. Orlov is serving as the European
Research Council (EU) and National Science Foundation (US) funded Visiting Professor of Chemistry at the
University of Cambridge. His major research and teaching activities are in development of novel materials for
energy generation, structural applications and environmental protection. These activities also include
environmental aspects of energy production; sustainable energy; environmental chemistry and engineering; and
environmental nanotechnology areas. Dr. Orlov’s research is supported by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), the State of New York, the US Department of Education, the US Department of Transportation (via
Regional Center), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Industry (totaling $3 million
as PI or co-PI for the previous 4 years). He was awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and
the National Endowment for Science Technology and Arts CRUCIBLE award (UK). He was also selected to
Frontiers of Engineering program by the National Academy of Engineering and was elected to a Fellowship of
the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). Before coming to Stony Brook Dr. Orlov was a Research Fellow in
Science and Engineering at the University of Cambridge (UK), where he was also affiliated with the King's
College. Dr. Orlov has 5 degrees from various European and the US institutions, including: Doctoral and
Master’s degrees in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and Master’s degree in Engineering
from the University of Michigan (US). He also holds Diploma in Economics from the London School of
Economics.