Nicholas A Brunelli Catalytic Material Design Group

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

Brunelli, Nick

Associate Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Directory Categories

Faculty / Research Area

-Reaction Engineering, Catalysis

(614) 688-3400

brunelli.2@osu.edu

Currently investigating structure-function relationships to elucidate mechanistic insights into catalytic reactions. This is challenging since most heterogeneous catalysts contain a non-uniform distribution of catalytic sites. We use homogeneous synthesis techniques to create materials with more uniform catalytic sites. Through tuning these materials on the atomic level, we are able to produce more uniform catalytic sites. The uniformity of the catalytic sites enables more active and selective catalysts to be designed and realized. The work has the potential to transform the production of valuable chemicals derived from petroleum and biomass sources.

2020

40. 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).

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)

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Nicholas A. Brunelli Catalytic Material Design Group