Brent Shanks

Title(s):

Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, Mike and Jean Steffenson Chair
Director, Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC)

Office

1140L Biorenewables Research Laboratory
617 Bissell Rd.
Ames, IA 50011-1098

Information

Honors and Awards:

  • ACS Industrial & Chemistry Engineering Division Fellow, 2023
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers Fellow, 2022
  • Great Plains Catalysis Society Award, 2019
  • ISU David R. Boylan Eminent Faculty Research Award, 2012
  • SU Award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Research, 2012
  • Superior Engineering Teacher Award, 2007
  • ISU Engineering Student Council Leadership Award, 2004
  • Shell Faculty Fellow, 2000-2002
  • VEISHEA Engineering Faculty of the Year, 2000

Work Experience:

  • 1997-1999, Department Manager, Shell Chemical Co.
  • 1988-1997, Research Engineer, Shell Chemical Co.

Education

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1988 M.S. Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1985 B.S. Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University, 1983

Interest Areas

BRENT SHANKS’ RESEARCH PAGE Research Interests: Heterogeneous catalysis, catalytic conversion of biorenewable feedstocks, catalyst supports: carbon and mesoporous metal oxides, thermal deconstruction of biomass Research Areas: Catalytic Conversion of Biorenewable Feedstocks – Biorenewable feedstocks represent a potentially attractive source of organic chemicals. However, biorenewable feedstock conversion with heterogeneous catalysts provides new challenges in inorganic catalyst research and development relative to the voluminous historical work with petrochemical feedstocks. These unique challenges include the need to convert selectively, highly functionalized molecules and to develop catalytic liquid-solid interfaces in which the liquid phase is commonly aqueous. Examples of projects in our group include: a) esterification of carboxylic acids to alkyl esters — we have synthesized and tested nanostructured organic-inorganic hybrid catalysts for use in esterification reactions, b) C-O bond hydrogenolysis of biorenewable molecules, c) selective dehydration of carbohydrates, d) ketonization of carboxylic acids. Catalyst Supports – a) Carbon Supports – Carbons are promising supports to create catalysts with improved hydrothermal stability over that possible with metal oxides. However, the surface chemistry of carbons can be quite complicated and difficult to characterize. We are interested in developing improved understanding of carbon surface chemistry so that we can rationally design carbon-supported catalytic materials: b) Mesoporous Metal Oxides as Nanostructured Catalytic Hosts – Nanostructured metal oxides hold promise for applications as unique catalytic hosts in which catalytic reactions requiring directed conformational synthesis can be achieved. We are interested in the controlled synthesis of mesoporous metal oxidess to produce nanostructured materials with specific surface chemistry and particle morphology. The surface chemistry properties to be manipulated during material synthesis include the population and type of catalytic sites. To control the interplay of diffusional effects with reactivity, the ability to manipulate pore size as well as particle morphology is important. Thermal Deconstruction of Biomass – Rapid heating of biomass in the absence of air, known as fast pyrolysis, can yield a liquid product. These thermal deconstruction reactions are quite complex, so we are interested in understanding the fundamental reactions occurring during pyrolysis. Using this knowledge, we are developing strategies to improve the quality of the liquid product resulting from pyrolysis.

Publications

  • Kohler, A.J., Walter, C.H. and Shanks, B.H., “Kinetica Analysis of the Hydrodeoxgenation of Aliphatic Volatilized Lignin Molecules on Bulk MoO3: Elucidating the Formation of Alkenes and Alkanes,” ACS Catal., 13, 14813-14827 (2023).
  • Lin, H.-H., Mendez-Perez, D., Park,. J., Wang, X., Chemg, Y., Huo, J., Murhoppadhyay, A., Lee, T.S. and Shanks, B.H., “Precursor Prioritization for p-Cymene Production through Synergistic Integration of BIology and Chemistry, Biotechnol, Biofuels, 15, 1-18 (2022) 
  • Huo, J., Bradley, W., Podolak, K., Ryan, B., Roling, L.K., Kraus, G.A. and Shanks, B.H., “Tracetic Aces Lactone and 4-Hydroxycoumarin as Bioprivileged Molecules for the Development of Perforamance Advantaged Organic Corrosion Inhibitors,” ACS Sustain. Chem., Eng., 10, 11544-11554 (2022).
  • Lopez, L.M., Shanks, B.H. and Broadbelt, L.J., “Indentification of Bioprivileged Molecules: Expansion of a Computational Approach to Braoder Molecular Space,” Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 6, 2445-460 (2021).
  • Huo, J., Tessonnier, J.-P. and Shanks, B.H., “Improving Hydrothermal Stability of supported Metal Catalysts for Biomass COnversions: A Review,” ACS Catal., 11, 5248-5270 (2021).
  • Saraeian, A., Burkhow, S.J., Jing, D., Smith, E.A., and Shanks, B.H., “Catayst Property Effects on Product Distribution During the Hydordeoxygenation of Lignin Pyrolysis Vapors over MoO3/Al2O3,” Acs Sustain. Chem. Eng., 9, 6685-6696 (2021).
  • Huo, J., J., Pham, H.N., Cheng, Y., Roling, L.T., Datye, A.K. and Shanks, B.H., “Deactivation and Regeneration of Carbon Supported Pt and Ru Catalysts in Aqueous Phase Reactions of Oxygenated Compounds,” Catal. Sci. Technol., 10, 3047-3056 (2020).
  • Zhang, J., Choi, Y.S., Yoo, C.G., Kim, T.H., Brown, R.C. and Shanks, B.H., “Cellulose-hemicellulose, cellulose-lignin interactions during fast pyrolysis,” ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 3, 293-301 (2015).
  • Johnson, R.L., Anderson, J.M, Shanks, B.H. and Schmidt-Rohr, K., “A simple one-step synthesis of polyaromatic materials with high concentrations of stable catalytic sites, validated by NMR,” Chem. Mater., 26, 5523-5529 (2014).
  • Saraeian, A., Aui, A., Gao, Y., Mba-Wright, M., Foston, M. and Shanks, B.H., “Evaluating Lignin Valorization Via Pyrolysis and Vapor-Phase Hydordeoxygenation for Production of Aromatics and Alkenes,” Green Chem., 22, 2513-2525 (2020).
  • Huo, J. and Shanks, B.H., ”Bioprivileged Molecules: Integrating Biological and Chemical Catalysis for Biomass Conversion,” Ann. Rev., Chem. Biomolec. Eng, 11, 63-85 (2020).
  • Shanks, B.H. and Broadbelt, L.J., “A Robust Strategy for Sustainable Organic Chemicals Utilizing Bioprivileged Molecules,” ChemSusChem, 12, 2970-2975 (2019).
  • Saraeian, A., Nolte, M.W. and Shanks, B.H., “Deoxygenation of Biomass Pyrolysis Vapors: Improving Clarity on the Fate of Carbon,” Renew., Sustain, Energy Rev., 104, 262-280 (2019).
  • Pfennig, T., Chemburkar, A., Cakolili, S., Neurock, M. and Shanks, B.H., “Improving Seleciivity of Toluic Acid from Biomass-Derived Coumalic Acid,” ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 6, 12855-12864 (2018).
  • Shanks, B.H. and Keeling, P.L., “Bioprivileged Molecules: Creating Value from Biomass,” Green Chem., 19, 3177-3185 (2017).

Primary Strategic Research Area

Advanced Materials & Manufacturing

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