Paul Dauenhauer (born 1980), a chemical engineer and MacArthur Fellow, is the Lanny & Charlotte Schmidt Professor at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
(UMN). He is recognized for his research in
catalysis
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
science and
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, especially, his contributions to the understanding of the catalytic breakdown of
cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...
to renewable chemicals, the invention of oleo-furan
surfactants
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsion#Emulsifiers , ...
, and the development of
catalytic resonance theory In chemistry, catalytic resonance theory was developed to describe the kinetics of reaction acceleration using dynamic catalyst surfaces. Catalytic reactions occurring on surfaces that undergo variation in surface binding energy and/or entropy exhib ...
and programmable catalysts.
Early life and education
Paul Dauenhauer was born in 1980 in Texas, USA, and was raised in
Wisconsin Rapids
Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. The city also forms one of the core areas of the United States Census Bureau's Marshfield-Wisconsin Rapids Micropolit ...
, WI, attending Lincoln High School. He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and chemistry at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in 2004. Working under the supervision of
Lanny Schmidt
Lanny D. Schmidt (May 6, 1938 – March 27, 2020) was an American chemist, inventor, author, and Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. He is well known for his extensive work in surfa ...
at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
, Dauenhauer received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 2008 from the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science. His dissertation described the development of
reactive flash volatilization Reactive flash volatilization (RFV) is a chemical process that rapidly converts nonvolatile solids and liquids to volatile compounds by thermal decomposition for integration with catalytic chemistries.
Chemistry
The utilization of heavy fossil ...
and was titled "Millisecond autothermal catalytic reforming of carbohydrates for synthetic fuels by reactive flash volatilization".
Career
Following graduation from Minnesota, Dauenhauer served as a senior research engineer at the
Dow Chemical
The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.
Dow manufactures plastics ...
Company in
Midland, MI
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Michigan. The city's population was 42,547 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Comb ...
, and
Freeport, TX
Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010.
History
Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement i ...
. He started as an assistant professor at the
University of Massachusetts
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...
, Amherst in 2009 before promotion to associate professor in 2014. In 2014, he moved to the Department of
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
&
Materials Science (CEMS) at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
, where he was promoted to professor, and then appointed
Lanny Schmidt
Lanny D. Schmidt (May 6, 1938 – March 27, 2020) was an American chemist, inventor, author, and Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. He is well known for his extensive work in surfa ...
Honorary Professor in 2019. During this time, he co-founded or contributed to the founding of startup companies Activated Research Company, Sironix Renewables, and enVerde, LLC.
Renewable chemicals
Dauenhauer's focus on renewable chemicals produced from
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
has targeted both drop-in replacement chemicals and new chemicals with novel characteristics. In 2012, he discovered a high yield pathway to synthesize
p-xylene
''p''-Xylene ( ''para''-xylene) is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is one of the three isomers of dimethylbenzene known collectively as xylenes. The ''p-'' stands for ''para-'', indicating that the two methyl groups in ''p''-xylene occupy the diamet ...
from
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
; this molecule is the key ingredient in
polyethylene terephthalate
Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...
plastic. This process technology utilized a new class of weak acid
zeolite
Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ・y where is either a metal ion or H+. These pos ...
s that permits the manufacture of biorenewable polyester.
In 2015, Dauenhauer and his team developed a new class of
surfactants
Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsion#Emulsifiers , ...
,
detergents, and
soap
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...
s that are derived from biomass (furans from sugars and fatty acids from
triglycerides
A triglyceride (TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids (from ''tri-'' and ''glyceride'').
Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates, as we ...
), oleo-furan sulfonates (OFS). These molecules were shown to have high hard water stability (>1000 ppm Ca++) and are being commercialized by Sironix Renewables, Inc.
In 2016, Dauenhauer and Abdelrahman developed the acid-catalyzed dehydra-decyclization mechanism that simultaneously opens cyclic ether rings and dehydrates to synthesize diene products. This technology was subsequently used to optimize the catalytic production of
isoprene
Isoprene, or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, is a common volatile organic compound with the formula CH2=C(CH3)−CH=CH2. In its pure form it is a colorless volatile liquid. Isoprene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon. It is produced by many plants and animals ...
, the key chemical in the production of car tires. Subsequent research identified pathways to similarly convert biomass-derived
tetrahydrofuran
Tetrahydrofuran (THF), or oxolane, is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)4O. The compound is classified as heterocyclic compound, specifically a cyclic ether. It is a colorless, water-miscible organic liquid with low viscosity. It is ma ...
to
butadiene
1,3-Butadiene () is the organic compound with the formula (CH2=CH)2. It is a colorless gas that is easily condensed to a liquid. It is important industrially as a precursor to synthetic rubber. The molecule can be viewed as the union of two viny ...
and 2-methyl-tetrahydrofuran to
piperylene
Piperylene or 1,3-pentadiene is an organic compound with the formula . It is a volatile, flammable hydrocarbon. It is one of the five positional isomers of pentadiene.
Reactions and occurrence
Piperylene is a typical diene. It forms a sulfo ...
.
Key publications include:
*C.L. Williams, C.C. Chang, P. Do, N. Nikbin, S. Caratzoulas, D.G. Vlachos, R.F. Lobo, W. Fan, P.J. Dauenhauer "''Cycloaddition of Biomass-Derived Furans for Catalytic Production of Renewable p-Xylene''", ''ACS Catalysis'', 2, 6, 935–939, (2012).
*Dae Sung Park, Kristeen E. Joseph, Maura Koehle, Christoph Krumm, Limin Ren, Jonathan N. Damen, Meera H. Shete, Han Seung Lee, Xiaobing Zuo, Byeongdu Lee, Wei Fan, Dionisios G. Vlachos, Raul F. Lobo, Michael Tsapatsis, Paul Dauenhauer "Tunable Oleo-Furan Surfactants by Acylation of Renewable Furans", ''ACS Central Science'', 2(11), 820–824, (2016).
*Omar A. Abdelrahman, Dae Sung Park, Katherine P Vinter, Charles S. Spanjers, Limin Ren, Hong Je Cho, Kechun Zhang, Wei Fan, Michael Tsapatsis, Paul J. Dauenhauer "Renewable Isoprene by Sequential Hydrogenation of Itaconic Acid and Dehydra-Decyclization of 3-Methyl-Tetrahydrofuran", ''ACS Catalysis'', 7(2), 1428–1431, (2016).
Cellulose Pyrolysis
Dauenhauer's study of
cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...
in 2008 led to the discovery of an intermediate liquid state of short-chain cellulose
oligomers
In chemistry and biochemistry, an oligomer () is a molecule that consists of a few repeating units which could be derived, actually or conceptually, from smaller molecules, monomers.Quote: ''Oligomer molecule: A molecule of intermediate relative ...
of sub-second duration at temperatures around 500 deg C. He further outlined the challenges in understanding high temperature cellulose chemistry by publishing his "Top Ten Challenges" of
biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
pyrolysis
The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures, often in an inert atmosphere. It involves a change of chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements ''py ...
in 2012, one of which was based on his discovery of the mechanism of
aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog o ...
formation through liquid intermediate cellulose.
Dauenhauer further developed a new
reactor technique called 'PHASR' (Pulse-Heated Analysis of Solid Reactions) which led to the first isothermal
kinetics
Kinetics ( grc, κίνησις, , kinesis, ''movement'' or ''to move'') may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Kinetics (physics), the study of motion and its causes
** Rigid body kinetics, the study of the motion of rigid bodies
* Chemical ki ...
of cellulose conversion and product formation. This technique permitted a molecular analysis of cellulose activation and the discovery that cellulose has a unique reaction transition at 467 deg C. The high temperature kinetic transition was attributed to the catalytic role of chain-to-chain cellulose hydroxyl groups in stabilizing the chain fragmentation of inter-
monomer
In chemistry, a monomer ( ; ''mono-'', "one" + '' -mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization.
Classification
Mo ...
bonds.
Key publications include:
*Vineet Maliekkal, Saurabh Maduskar, Derek J. Saxon, Mohammadreza Nasiri, Theresa M. Reineke, Matthew Neurock, Paul Dauenhauer "Activation of Cellulose via Cooperative Hydroxyl-Catalyzed Transglycosylation of Glycosidic Bonds", ''ACS Catalysis'', 9(3), 1943–1955, (2019).
*Andrew R. Teixeira, Kyle G. Mooney, Jacob S. Kruger, C. Luke Williams, Wieslaw J. Suszynski, Lanny D. Schmidt, David P. Schmidt, and Paul J. Dauenhauer "Aerosol generation by reactive boiling ejection of molten cellulose", ''Energy & Environmental Science'', 4, 4306–4321, (2011).
Catalytic Resonance Theory
Catalytic resonance theory In chemistry, catalytic resonance theory was developed to describe the kinetics of reaction acceleration using dynamic catalyst surfaces. Catalytic reactions occurring on surfaces that undergo variation in surface binding energy and/or entropy exhib ...
was proposed by Dauenhauer based on the
Sabatier principle The Sabatier principle is a qualitative concept in chemical heterogeneous catalysis named after the French chemist Paul Sabatier. It states that the interactions between the catalyst and the substrate should be "just right"; that is, neither too st ...
of
catalysis
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
developed by French chemist
Paul Sabatier Paul Sabatier may refer to:
*Paul Sabatier (chemist) (1854–1941), French chemist and Nobel Prize winner
*Paul Sabatier (theologian) (1858–1928), French clergyman and historian
See also
*Paul Sabatier University
Paul Sabatier University (''U ...
. Optimal catalyst performance is depicted as a 'volcano' peak using a descriptor of the chemical reaction defining different catalytic materials. Experimental evidence of the Sabatier principle was first demonstrated by Balandin in 1960. In his initial discovery of the behavior of oscillating chemical reactions on metal surfaces, Dauenhauer showed that steady state reaction rates could achieve
chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the pos ...
speeds as much as 1000 times greater than previously achievable rates, even with optimized catalytic systems. This work broke down surface chemical reactions into its component parts and associated natural frequencies, which could be matched to
resonate
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied Periodic function, periodic force (or a Fourier analysis, Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system ...
with the catalytic surface frequencies.
Follow-up work on ''
catalytic resonance theory In chemistry, catalytic resonance theory was developed to describe the kinetics of reaction acceleration using dynamic catalyst surfaces. Catalytic reactions occurring on surfaces that undergo variation in surface binding energy and/or entropy exhib ...
'' by Dauenhauer and his team broadened to understand the relationship between surface chemistry with its linear scaling relationships and the surface binding energy
oscillation
Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...
waveform
In electronics, acoustics, and related fields, the waveform of a signal is the shape of its graph as a function of time, independent of its time and magnitude scales and of any displacement in time.David Crecraft, David Gorham, ''Electronic ...
. He introduced the concept of ''superVolcanoes'' as a superposition of all possible Sabatier volcanoes for varying linear scaling parameters, before further connecting the behavior of oscillating catalytic surfaces to
molecular machines
A molecular machine, nanite, or nanomachine is a molecular component that produces quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). In cellular biology, macromolecular machines frequently perform tasks essential for l ...
and pumps.
Key publications include:
*A. Ardagh, O. Abdelrahman, P.J. Dauenhauer "Principles of Dynamic Heterogeneous Catalysis: Surface Resonance and Turnover Frequency Response", ''ACS Catalysis'', 9(8), 6929–6937, (2019).
*A. Ardagh, T. Birol, Q. Zhang, O. Abdelrahman, P.J. Dauenhauer "Catalytic Resonance Theory: superVolcanoes, catalytic molecular pumps, and oscillatory steady state", ''Catalysis Science & Technology'', 9, 5058–5076, (2019).
*M.A. Ardagh, M. Shetty, A. Kuznetsov, Q. Zhang, P. Christopher, D.G. Vlachos, O.A. Abdelrahman, P.J. Dauenhauer, "Catalytic Resonance Theory: Parallel Reaction Pathway Control", ''Chemical Science'', 2020.
Advising and honors
Professor Dauenhauer has supervised 20 Ph.D. students and advised ten post-doctoral scholars. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers and 10 patents. He has given over 50 invited seminars and lectures including the Eastman Lecture at the U of California (2021), Berkeley, the Notre Dame Thiele lecture in 2017, and the Purdue Mellichamp lecture in 2016. He has received numerous awards for his work including:
*2022 - Holtz Lecture, Johns Hopkins University
*2022 - Marple-Schweitzer Lecture, Northwestern University
*2021 - Blavatnik Finalist
*2021 - Herman Pines Award
*2021 - Dourdeville Lecture, Brown University
*2020 -
MacArthur Fellowship
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
*2019 - Stratis V. Sotirchos Memorial Lectureship
*2019 - Univ. of Minnesota COGS, Outstanding Advisor Award
*2019 - Dept. of Energy, Top Ten EFRC Invention Award
*2019 - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship
*2018 - AIChE CRE Young Investigator Award
*2017 - Thiele Lecturer - Notre Dame
*2016 - Rutherford Aris Award for Excellence in Reaction Engineering
*2016 -
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
- Mellichamp Lecturer
*2014 -
Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar
*2013 - DuPont Young Professor Award
*2013 - National Science Foundation,
NSF- CAREER Award
*2012 - U.S. Department of Energy - Early Career Award
References
External links
Chemical Engineering & Materials Science - Univ. of Minnesota, Prof. DauenhauerDauenhauer Research GroupGoogle Scholar - Paul Dauenhauer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauenhauer, Paul
American chemical engineers
Living people
American educators
American materials scientists
University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni
Minnesota CEMS
1980 births
21st-century American inventors
MacArthur Fellows
University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering alumni