News

    December 2023:

    Our group has two immediate openings for Ph.D. students. A bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering or close fields is required. Please send your CV and transcripts to yxiao@latech.edu if you are interested.

    We welcome Sean Clay joining the group as an Undergraduate Researcher!

    The Xiao Group has a GC-MS instrument (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry), which can separate (GC) and detect (MS) unknown species in a mixture.

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    November 2023:

    Dr. Xiao will chair the session of "Catalysis on Low Dimensional Materials" at the 2023 AIChE Annual Meeting on Sunday, November 5, 2023, 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM, Plaza International Ballroom J (Convention Level, Hyatt Regency Orlando) in Orlando, FL. Check the Agenda .

    October 2023:

    Dr. Xiao gave a talk at the Energy Transition Research Symposium on 10/6/2023 at LSU Energy, Coast & Environment Bldg. (93 S. Quad Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70803), entitled: "Environmentally Sustainable Carbon-Free Hydrogen Generation by Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Short Alkanes". Check the Agenda .

    September 2023:

    We welcome Caroline Cresap to join the group as an undergraduate research assistant!

    We welcome Mst. Nusrat Yasmin to join the group as a PhD graduate research assistant!

    We welcome Piper Smith to join the group as an undergraduate research assistant!

    Our paper is accepted by LSU's Energy Transition Research Symposium. Dr. Xiao will give a presentation of hydrogen generation on 10/6/2023 at LSU Energy, Coast & Environment Bldg. (93 S. Quad Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70803). Check more info here.

    August 2023:

    Great News! We received the Louisiana Materials Design Alliance (LAMDA) Track 1 B Award grant, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Louisiana Board of Regent.

    Our paper "Two-dimensional Atomically Thin Pt Layers on MXenes: The Role of Electronic Effects During Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Ethane and Propane" is published in the journal of Nano Research, DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-6022-2 Link

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    July 2023:

    Great News! We received the Research Enhancement Award (REA) grant from The Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE), a NASA EPSCoR Program.

    June 2023:

    Welcome two high school students research assistants Mir Ali and Piper Smith joining the group.

    During the 27th International Symposium for Chemical Reaction Engineering (ISCRE27) in Québec City, Québec in Canada on June 11-14, 2023, Dr. Xiao gave an oral talk: "Atomically Thin Platinum Nanolayers on MXene for Catalytic Non-oxidative Coupling of Methane".

    March 2023:

    Welcome Henrik Ketting joining the group as a graduate research assistant! Welcome Sarah Siharath and Robert Martin joining the group as undergraduate research assistants!

    February 2023:

    A collaborative paper entitled " Hollow macroporous CeO2/β-Bi2O3 heterostructure sphere via one-step spray solution combustion synthesis for efficient photocatalysis" is published in the journal of Applied Surface Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2023.156718, Link

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    Dr. Xiao, along with two colleagues, is organizing the "Catalysis on Low Dimensional Materials" session at the 2023 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. We seek submissions on single-atom catalysis, and 2D catalysis such as MXene, MOF, COF, etc. Please check out more info here.

    The Xiao Group members, including Tobias K. Misicko, Xiaoyang Gao, and Dr. Xiao, will present research at Southeastern Catalysis Society (SECS) in Tuscaloosa, AL on February 27-28, 2023.

    January 2023:

    Dr. Xiao will give a Nanoseminar in the IfM auditorium of Louisiana Tech University at 4 pm on Wednesday, 1/11/2023 - "Atomically Thin Nanolayer Materials for the Catalytic Activation of Short Alkanes".

    The Xiao Group receives the Research and Economic Development Travel Grant and IfM Research Innovation Initiative Grant.

    December 2022:

    Dr. Xiao's one more U.S patent (No. 11,524,279) has been granted - Transition metal carbides for catalytic methane activation. Please check the patent here, and the related article here.

    In collaboration with Dr. Yue Wu (Iowa State University) and Dr. Shuai Zhang (University of Washington), Dr. Xiao is organizing a Special Issue in the journal of Catalysts on "Advances in Catalytic Methane Activation". All research directions on methane activation, including oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), nonoxidative coupling of methane (NOCM), methane selective oxidation to methanol or other C1 or C2 oxygenates (HCHO, HCOOH, and CH3COOH, etc.), are welcome to submit. Please find more info here.

    Welcome Jacob Christ to join the group as an undergraduate research assistant.

    November 2022:

    Dr. Xiao gave two talks on methane activation and bio-oil upgrading, and co-chaired a catalysis session at the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, November 13-18, 2022. More info is available here.

    Dr. Xiao's latest patent on bio-oil upgrading has been filed and published. The versions of U.S. patent and W.O. patent can be found via the following links. U.S. version and W.O. version.

    September 2022:

    Welcome two undergraduate research assistants join the group - Brady Duplessis and Paul Macip.

    August 2022:

    Dr. Xiao will co-chair the session of "Fundamentals of Catalysis and Surface Science II: Zeolites and acid catalysis" at the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. The session is at 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM on Monday, November 14, 2022 at Phoenix Convention Center - N-128B. Please check more info at here.

    July 2022:

    The abstract, Guaiacol Hydrodeoxygenation and Hydrogenation over Bimetallic Pt-M (Nb, W, Zr)/KIT-6 Catalysts with Tunable Acidity, has been accepted for oral presentation at the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. Xiao will present it at the session of Biomass Conversion I: Hydrodeoxygenation, 9:12 AM MST - 9:30 AM MST on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 in Phoenix Convention Center, N-128A. Please check more info at here.

    The abstract, Nonoxidation Coupling of Methane over Nano-Layer Platinum Catalysts on Two-Dimensional Metal Carbides (MXenes), has been accepted for oral presentation at the 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. Xiao will present it at the session of Hydrocarbon Conversion I: Nonoxidative processes for hydrocarbon conversion, 9:36 AM MST - 9:54 AM MST on Friday, November 18, 2022 in Phoenix Convention Center, N-127A. Please check more info at here.

    June 2022:

    Dr. Xiao joined the Topical Advisory Panel for the journal of Catalysts. He will regularly review manuscripts and set up one Special Issue (SI) for the journal.

    Dr. Xiao will be presenting a poster entitled "A New Elective Course at Louisiana Tech University: Sustainable Chemical Processes" at ASEE/AIChE Summer School for Engineering Faculty at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO during the week of July 24-29, 2022. Please check more info at here.

    Mr. Tobias K. Misicko has officially joined the Xiao Group as a graduate student.He receives B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. He will be working on catalytic methane activation. Welcome to the group.

    April 2022:

    Glad to know a technology for converting glycerol to fuels that I developed at Purdue is chosen as one of the ten green-related innovations by Purdue University for April 22 - Earth Day. Please find the news link here. Please also find more info of the technology here.

    Dr. Xiao's paper entitled "Guaiacol Hydrodeoxygenation and Hydrogenation over Bimetallic Pt-M (Nb, W, Zr)/KIT-6 Catalysts with Tunable Acidity" has been published online in the journal of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07071). Please find the paper link here. "It is a pleasure to be invited to contribute to this Festschrift honoring Professor James Dumesic, whose impactful contributions to the fields of catalysis and biomass processing we greatly admire"

    Please check a paper on solution combustion synthesis from my collaborator entitled "One-step solution combustion synthesis of micro/nano-scale porous Cu/CeO2 with enhanced photocatalytic properties" in the journal of Journal of Rare Earths (DOI: 10.1016/j.jre.2022.02.013). Please find the paper link here.

    March 2022:

    I am thrilled to officially join the faculty of Louisiana Tech University as a tenure-track assistant professor of chemical engineering on March 1st, 2022.