PhD 2010, California Institute of Technology, NSF Graduate Research Fellow
2013, Emory University, Postdoctoral Fellow
2010-13, Georgia Institute of Technology, Postdoctoral Fellow
BS 2004, The Ohio State University, National Merit Scholar
Named the H.C. “Slip” Slider Professor in the fall of 2018, Brunelli is currently one of only seven endowed professors in the College of Engineering.
Professor Brunelli's group advances our understanding of catalytic materials at the atomic level to convert abundant petroleum and biomass resources with high selectivity to valuable chemical and fuels.
His research focuses on achieving atomic level control of the catalytic active sites in heterogeneous materials by creating novel designs and using advanced synthetic methods. These materials are interrogated through spectroscopic techniques that enable improved design
His work has led to the scalable production of nanomaterials and an advanced understanding of molecular interactions that impact immobilized catalysts.
NATIONAL HONORS
ACS Energy & Fuels
- 2021 Emerging Investigator
RSC Molecular Systems Design and Engineering:
- 2020 Influential Researcher Award
AIChE Futures as recognized by AIChE Journal
- 2019 AIChE Futures
Royal Society of Chemistry:
- Emerging Investigator, 2019
Organic Reaction Catalysis Society (ORCS):
- 2019 Robert Augustine Award
RSC Reaction Chemistry & Engineering:
- 2019 Emerging Investigator
American Chemical Society:
- 2018 Class of Influential Researchers
National Science Foundation:
- NSF CAREER Award, 2017
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-07
National Merit Scholar:
- 2000
KEY DISTINCTIONS
- H.C. "Slip" Slider Professorship
INDUSTRY
- Dow Outstanding Junior Award in Chemical Engineering, 2003
UNIVERSITY
The Ohio State University:
- Inaugural Cohort for the Growing Research Opportunities Academy (GRO), The Ohio State University Office of Research, 2021
Ohio State University College of Engineering:
- Lumley Research Award, 2019
William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering:
- Named H.C. 'Slip' Slider Professor, 2018
- AIChE Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Award in Chemical Engineering, 2001
- Outstanding Senior Chemical Engineering Alumni Award, 2002
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING:
- 2020 Influential Researcher Award, Molecular Systems Design and Engineering
- 2019 AIChE Futures, AIChE Journal
- 2019 Emerging Investigator, RSC Reaction Chemistry & Engineering
- 2019 College of Engineering Lumley Research Award
- 2018 Class of Influential Researchers, American Chemical Society Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
- Appointed to the H.C. Slip Slider Professorship, Fall 2018
- NSF CAREER Award, 2017
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-2007
- Outstanding Senior Chemical Engineering Alumni Award, 2004
- Dow Outstanding Junior Award in Chemical Engineering, 2002
- AIChE Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Award in Chemical Engineering, 2001
- National Merit Finalist, 2000
HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSTS FOR SELECTIVE BIOMASS CONVERSION
Innovation: Nicholas Brunelli created aminosilica materials capable of selective isomerization of glucose to fructose. This novel design of a bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst increases selective dehydration of fructose to HMF.
Impact: Combined catalysts would enable production of HMF, the most important target for biomass valorization.
Publications
2022
44. N.Deshpande, E.H.Cho, T.Kobayashi, M. Pruski, L.-C.Lin,* N.A.Brunelli,* “TuningMicropore Volume of SBA-15 to Enhance Catalytic Activity,”(submitted).
43. M. Kasula, A.P. Spanos, N.A. Brunelli,* “Investigating the impact of synthesis conditions to increase yield and tin inclusion for Lewis acid nano-Sn-MFI zeolites,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 61, 5, 1977 - 1984.
2021
42. J.-Y. Chen, N.A. Brunelli,* “Investigating the impact of microporosity of aminosilica catalysts in coupling reactions for biomass upgrading to fuel,” Energy & Fuels, 2021, 35, 18, 14885-14893.
41. P. Ranadive, Z. Blanchette, A. Spanos, W. Medlin, N.A. Brunelli,* “Scalable synthesis of selective hydrodeoxygenation core@shell Pd@TiO2 nanocatalysts,” J. Flow Chemistry, 2021, 11, 393-406.
40. A. Spanos, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Enhancing hydrophobicity and catalytic activity of nano-Sn-Beta for alcohol ring opening of epoxides through post-synthetic treatment with fluoride,” J. Catalysis, 2021, 404, 430-439.
2020
39. M. Gray, M. Hines, M. Parsutkar, A.J. Wahlstrom, N.A. Brunelli,* T.V. RajanBabu,* “On the Mechanism of Cobalt-Catalyzed Heterodimerization of Acrylates and 1,3-Dienes. Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis and A Potential Role of Cationic Cobalt(I) Intermediates” ACS Catalysis, 2020, 10 (7), 4337-4348.
38. M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose in the presence of an acid-functionalized SBA-15 catalyst modified with a sulfoxide polymer,” Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, 2020, 5, 257-268.
2019
37. A. Kane, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Impact of surface loading on catalytic activity of regular and low Micropore SBA-15 in the Knoevenagel Condensation,” AIChE Journal, 2019, 65 (12), e16791.
36. P. Ranadive, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli, "Jet-Mixing for the Production of Monodisperse Silver Nanoparticles Using Reduced Amounts of Capping Agent." Reaction Chemistry & Engineering (accepted) (2019 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Emerging Investigators) (https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RE00152B)
35. M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, P. Ranadive, R. Joshi, N.A. Brunelli,* “Examining Acid Formation During the Selective Dehydration of Fructose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in DMSO and Water,” ChemSusChem, 2019 (accepted) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201803013).
34. Parulkar, A., Spanos, A.P., Deshpande, N., Brunelli, N.A.,* "Synthesis and catalytic testing of Lewis acidic nano zeolite beta for epoxide ring opening with alcohols." Applied Catalysis A: General. 2019, 577, 28-34. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2019.03.009)
33. Deshpande, N., Cho, E.H., Spanos, A.P., Lin, L.-C., Brunelli, N.A.,* "Tuning molecular structure of tertiary amine catalysts for glucose isomerization," Journal of Catalysis, 2019, 372, 119-127. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2019.02.025)
32. Olson, N., Deshpande, N., Gunduz, S., Ozkan, U.S., Brunelli, N.A.,* “Utilizing Imogolite Nanotubes as a Tunable Catalytic Material for the Selective Isomerization of Glucose to Fructose,” Catalysis Today, 323, 69-75. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2018.07.059)
31. Deshpande, N., Parulkar, A., Joshi, R., Diep, B., Kulkarni, A., Brunelli, N.A.*, "Epoxide ring opening with alcohols using heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts: Mechanism and regioselectivity" Journal of Catalysis, 370, 46-54. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2018.11.038)
2018
30. Parulkar, A., Joshi, R., Deshpande, N., Diep, B., Brunelli, N.A.*, "Synthesis and catalytic testing of Lewis acidic nano-MFI zeolites for the epoxide ring opening reaction with alcohol" Applied Catalysis A: General, 2018, 566, 25-32. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2018.08.018)
29. Parulkar, A., Thompson, J.A., Hurt, M., Zhan, B.-Z., Brunelli, N.A. “Improving hydrodenitrogenation catalyst performance through analyzing hydrotreated vacuum gas oil using ion mobility-mass spectrometry” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (Accepted). (DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b01038)
2017
28. Parulkar, A., Brunelli, N.A. “High Yield Synthesis of ZIF-8 Nanoparticles using Stoichiometric Reactants in a Jet-Mixing Reactor.” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2017, 56 (37), 10384-10392. (DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.7b02849)
27. Deshpande, N., Pattanaik, L., Whitaker, M.W., Yang, C.-T., Lin, L.-C., Brunelli, N.A. “Selectively Converting Glucose to Fructose Using Immobilized Tertiary Amines.” Journal of Catalysis, 2017, 353, 205-210. (doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2017.07.021)
2015
26. E.G. Moschetta, S. Negretti, K.M. Chepiga, N.A. Brunelli, Y. Labreche, Y. Feng, F. Rezaei, R.P. Lively, W.J. Koros, H.M.L. Davies,* and C.W. Jones.* "Composite Polymer/Oxide Hollow Fiber Contactors: Versatile and Scalable Flow Reactors for Heterogeneous Catalytic Reactions in Organic Synthesis." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54 (22), 6470-6474.
25. L. Espinal, M.L. Green, D.A. Fischer, D.M. DeLongchamp, C. Jaye, J.C. Horn, M.A. Sakwa-Novak, W. Chaikittisilp, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones. “Interrogating the Carbon and Oxygen K-edge NEXAFS of a CO2-dosed Hyperbranched Aminosilica.” J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2015, 6 (1), 148-152.
24. E.G. Moschetta, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones, (2014) "Reaction-Dependent Heteroatom Modification of Acid-Base Catalytic Cooperativity in Aminosilica Materials," Appl. Catal. A 2015, 504 (5), 429-439.
2014
23. B. R. Pimentel, A. Parulkar, E. Zhou, N. A. Brunelli*, R. P. Lively*, (2014), "Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: Next-Generation Materials for Energy-Efficient Gas Separations." Chem. Sus. Chem. (DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201402647)
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22. A.J. Brown, N.A. Brunelli, K Eum, F. Rashidi, J.R. Johnson, W.J. Koros, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2014), "Interfacial microfluidic processing of metal-organic framework hollow fiber membranes." Science 345, pp 72-75 (DOI: 10.1126/science.1251181)
21. D.-Y. Kang, N.A. Brunelli, G.I. Yucelen, A. Venkatasubramanian, J. Zang, J. Leisen, P.J. Hesketh, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2014), "Direct Synthesis of Single-walled Aminoaluminosilicate nantoubes with enhanced molecular adsorption selectivity." Nature Commun. 5, pp 1-9. (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4342)
20. H.J. Kim, N.A. Brunelli, A.J. Brown, K.S Jang, W. Kim, F. Rashidi, J.R. Johnson, W.J. Koros, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2014) "Silylated Mesoporous Silica Membranes on Polymeric Hollow Fiber Supports: Synthesis and Permeation Properties," (in press).
19. S. A. Didas, R. Zhu, N. A. Brunelli, D. S. Sholl, C. W. Jones, (2014), "Thermal, Oxidative and CO2 Induced Degradation of Primary Amines Used for CO2 Capture: Effect of Alkyl Linker on Stability." J. Phys. Chem. C, 118, pp 12302-12311. (DOI: 10.1021/jp5025137 )
2013
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18. N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones, (2013), “Tuning Acid-Base Cooperativity to Create Next Generation Silica-Supported Organocatalysts.” J. Catal. 308, pp 60-72. (DOI: 10.1016/j.jcat.20213.05.022)
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17. D.M. Holunga, N.A. Brunelli, R.C. Flagan, (2013) "A Tool for Uniform Coating of 300 mm Wafers with Nanoparticles." J. Nanoparticle Res. 15, pp 2027-1-10. (DOI: 10.107/s11051-013-2027-1)
16. N.A. Brunelli, E.L. Neiholdt, K.P. Giapis, R.C. Flagan, J.L. Beauchamp, (2013) “Continuous Flow Ion Mobility Separation with Mass Spectrometric Detection Using a Nano-Radial Differential Mobility Analyzer at Low Flow Rates.” Anal. Chem. 85 (9), pp 4335-4341.(DOI: 10.1021/ac3032417)
15. J.A. Thompson, N.A. Brunelli, R.P. Lively, J.R. Johnson, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2013) “Tunable CO2 Adsorbents by Mixed-Linker Synthesis and Postsynthetic Modification of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks.” "J. Phys. Chem. C 117 (16), pp 8198-8207. (DOI: 10.1021/jp312590r)
14. K.M. Chepiga, Y. Fang, N.A. Brunelli, C.W. Jones, H.M.L. Davies, (2013) "Immobilized Chiral Dirhodium(II) Catalyst for Enantioselective Carbenoid Reactions." Org. Lett. 15, pp 6136-6139. (DOI: 10.1021/ol403006r).
13. W. Long, N.A. Brunelli, E.W. Ping, C.W. Jones, (2013) “A Single-Component Hybrid Pd Catalyst for the Highly-Selective Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes,” ACS Catal. 3 (8), pp 1700-1708. (DOI: 10.1021/cs3007395)
12. A. Varga, M. Pfohl, N.A. Brunelli, M. Schreier, K. Giapis, S. Haile, (2013) "Carbon nanotubes as electronic interconnects in solid acid fuel cell electrodes," Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 15, pp 15470-15476. (DOI:10.1039/C3CP52586D)
11. J.A. Thompson, J.T. Vaughn, N.A. Brunelli, W.J. Koros, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2013) "Mixed-linker zeolitic imidazolate framework mixed-matrix membranes for aggressive CO2 separation from natural gas," Microporous Mesoporous Mater. (in press).
2012
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10. N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones, (2012) "Effect of Linker Length on the Cooperative Interactions of Supported Amines in Catalysis and CO2 Capture,"J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (34), pp 13950-13953. (DOI: 10.1021/ja305601g)
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9. N.A. Brunelli, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones, (2012) “Cooperative Catalysis with Acid-Base Bifunctional Mesoporous Silica: Impact of Grafting and Co-condensation Synthesis Methods on Material Structure and Catalytic Properties.” Chem. Mater. 24 (13), pp 2433-2442. (DOI: 10.1021/cm300753z)
8. N.A. Brunelli, W. Long, K. Venkatasubbaiah, C.W. Jones, (2012) "Catalytic Regioselective Epoxide Ring Opening with Phenol using Homogeneous and Supported Analogues of Dimethylaminopyridine," Top. Catal. 55 (7-10), pp 432-438. (DOI: 10.1007/s11244-012-9822-2)
7. Y. Kuwahara, D.-Y. Kang, J. Copeland, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, P. Bollini, C. Sievers, T. Kamegawa, H. Yamashita, C.W. Jones, (2012) "Dramatic Enhancement of CO2 Uptake by Poly(ethyleneimine) Using Zirconosilica Supports," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (26), pp 10757-10760. (DOI: 10.1021/ja303136e)
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6. J.A. Thompson, C.R. Blad, N.A. Brunelli, M.E. Lydon, R.P. Lively, C.W. Jones, S. Nair, (2012), "Hybrid Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: Controlling Framework Porosity and Functionality by Mixed-Linker Synthesis," Chem. Mater. 24 (10), pp 1930-1936. (DOI: 10.1021/cm3006953)
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5. P. Bollini, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, C.W. Jones, "Dynamics of CO2 Adsorption onto Amine Adsorbents. 1. Assessment of Heat Effects," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 51 (46), pp 15145-15152. (DOI: 10.1021/ie301790a)
4. P. Bollini, N.A. Brunelli, S.A. Didas, C.W. Jones, "Dynamics of CO2 Adsorption onto Amine Adsorbents. 2. Insights into Adsorbent Design," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 51 (46), pp 15153-15162. (DOI: 10.1021/ie3017913)
2011
3. J. Jiang, M. Attoui, M. Heim, N.A. Brunelli, P. McMurry, G. Kasper, R.C. Flagan, K. Giapis, G. Mouret, (2011). "Transfer Functions and Penetrations of Five Differential Mobility Analyzers for Sub-2 nm Particle Classification," Aerosol Sci. Technol. 45 (4), pp 480-492. (DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2010.546819)
2010
2. A. Varga, N.A. Brunelli, M.W. Louie, K. Giapis, S.M. Haile, (2010) "Composite nanostructured solid-acid fuel-cell electrodes via electrospray deposition," J. Mater. Chem. 20, pp 6309-6315. (DOI: 10.1039/C0JM00216J)
2009
1. N.A. Brunelli, R.C. Flagan, K. Giapis, "Radial Differential Mobility Analyzer for One Nanometer Particle Classification," Aerosol Sci. Technol. 43 (1), pp 53-59. (DOI: 10.1080/02786820802464302)
Alumni (PhD)
- Nitish Deshpande
- Degree – Doctoral
- Year of degree – 2018
- Dissertation title – Catalytic Material Design: Design Factors Affecting Catalyst Performance for Biomass and Fine Chemical Applications
- Career activities – full-time employee of Intel Corporation
- Notable achievements - (1) recipient of AIChE CRE travel award (only 10 doctoral students per year receive this award; (2) Critical talent retention award at Intel Corporation
- Aamena Parulkar
- Degree – Doctoral
- Year of degree – 2018
- Dissertation title – Developing Synthesis and Characterization Methods for Enhancing Material Performance
- Career activities – full-time employee of Intel Corporation
- Notable achievements – (1) 2nd place for 3MT at OSU IMR
- Mariah Whitaker
- Degree – Doctoral
- Year of degree – 2019
- Dissertation title – Design of Heterogeneous Catalysts Incorporating Solvent-Like Surface Functionality for Sustainable Chemical Production
- Career activities – full-time employee of Owens Corning
- Notable achievements - (1) Dow BEST Symposium
- Pinaki Ranadive
- Degree – Doctoral
- Year of degree – 2021
- Dissertation title – Scalable Continuous Synthesis of Metal and Metal-oxide based Nanomaterials through Jet-mixing
- Career activities – full-time employee of Regeneron
- Notable achievements – (1) AIChE Best Presentation of the Session
Masters Students (MS)
1. Rutuja Joshi
- Degree – Masters
- Year of degree – 2017
- Dissertation title – Synthesis and Catalytic Testing of Lewis Acidic Nano-MFI Zeolites to Overcome Diffusion Limitations
- Career activities – full-time employee of Intel Corporation
2. Medha Kasula
- Degree – Masters
- Year of degree – 2020
- Dissertation title – Synthesis and catalytic testing of Sn-MFI zeolite crystallized using different tin precursors
- Career activities – continued graduate education at University of Alabama
3. Joseph Kolb
- Degree – Masters
- Year of degree – 2021
- Dissertation title – Nanosheet Sn-MFI for the Efficient Ring Opening of Bulky Epoxides
- Career activities – full-time employee of U.S. Coast Guard
4. Ashwin Kane
- Degree – Masters
- Year of degree – 2019
- Career activities – continued to complete doctoral degree
5. Jee-Yee Chen
- Degree – Masters
- Year of degree – 2020
- Career activities – continued to complete doctoral degree
Graduate Research Assistants
- Jee Yee Chen
- Ashwin Kane
- Medha Kasula
- Joseph Kolb
- Pinaki Ranadive
- Alexander Spanos
Undergraduate Students
- Abraham Williams
Undergraduate Alumni (BS)
- Michael Hines
- Steven Back
- Brian Diep
- Jay Mota
- Nathanial Olson
- Lagnajit Pattanaik
- Adrianna Schneider
- Kory Sherman
2015-10-07
We had an invitation to learn about in situ spectroscopy methods from the experts at Purdue University. We were able to meet with many faculty (Fabio Ribiero, Raj Gounder, Jeff Miller, Jeff Greeley) and students (Atish, Ravi, and Phil). We were able to distill some important insights from our interactions. Here we are standing in front of a distillation column in the lobby of the Chemical Engineering building at Purdue.
(left to right) Nitish, Dr. Brunelli, Ravi (Purdue), Aamena, Phil (Purdue; former Ohio State undergrad), and Atish (Purdue) stand in front of an antique distillation column at Purdue University.