David W. Flaherty, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois, has received a 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his research proposal, “Molecular Understanding and Catalyst Design for the Direct Synthesis of H2O2.”
Dr. Flaherty’s work aims to develop the fundamental insight needed to develop catalysts for on-site, efficient production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This approach could potentially eliminate use of environmentally-taxing chlorine-based oxidants in many industrial processes.
The National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program’s CAREER Awards are prestigious and competitive awards given to junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their respective organizations. The program will provide five years of support for Dr. Flaherty’s research.
Dr. Flaherty is a Dow Chemical Company Faculty Scholar in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He joined the department in 2012. Dr. Flaherty applies mechanistic and kinetic investigations of chemistry at surfaces to the design of more reactive and selective catalytic materials. He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 2004.