Energy Materials Student Lunch Seminar: Chemistry and applications of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Presenter: Ignacio Luz (RTI International)

Ignacio Luz received his BS in Chemical Engineering in 2009 and his PhD in Chemistry in 2014, both at Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain. During this time, his main focus was the study of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as heterogeneous catalysts and photocatalysts. In addition, he studied the chemical vapor infiltration of organometallics within MOFs for catalyst preparation as visiting scientist at University of Bochum in Germany and worked on the development of MOF mixed-matrix membranes for gas separations during a collaboration contract with Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. After receiving his PhD, he worked one year at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California on developing novel composite materials consisting on colloidal metal nanoparticles embedded on MOFs for electrochemical reduction of CO2. In 2016, he moved to RTI International in North Carolina, where he currently works as Research Chemist on tailoring novel MOF hybrid materials and composites for government-funded multidisciplinary projects involving CO2 capture, separation and utilization, as well as catalytic reactions of industrial interests, such as ammonia synthesis, Fischer-Tropsch, ethylene dimerization, among others. He is also focused on the development of novel synthetic routes based on MOF precursors to tailor advanced materials for other interdisciplinary applications, such as food packaging, drug delivery, photo-/electro-catalysis, electronics and hydrogen carriers.