Catalysis at the Nanoscale: Zeolite Innovations for a Low-Carbon Chemical Industry
Event details
| Date | 20.03.2026 |
| Hour | 11:00 › 12:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Javier García Martínez |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract:
The transition to a circular, low-carbon chemical industry requires new catalytic processes capable of transforming complex feedstocks such as waste, plastics, and biomass. This shift demands catalysts that combine high accessibility with precise molecular confinement, enabling the efficient conversion of large molecules while minimizing by-products, solvent use, and energy consumption and operating under milder conditions with excellent selectivity. Zeolites are among the most important industrial catalysts, but their microporous structure often imposes diffusion limitations. Over the past years, our laboratory has developed a wide range of strategies to overcome these limitations and achieve the long-standing goal of designing catalysts that simultaneously provide enhanced accessibility and the molecular selectivity characteristic of zeolites. These advances include methods to introduce intracrystalline mesoporosity and create hierarchical zeolite architectures, whose formation has been elucidated through advanced in situ techniques.
The resulting hierarchical zeolites show superior catalytic performance in reactions involving bulky molecules and have already demonstrated their industrial relevance. Their commercialization, initially through the MIT spin-off Rive Technology and later through major industrial partners such as Shell and W. R. Grace, illustrates how academic discoveries can be translated into market-ready technologies that improve existing refinery processes. These developments highlight the importance of academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer if we are serious about enabling a circular chemical economy. In this presentation, I will also discuss future directions and opportunities in nanoscale catalysis and emphasize the importance of translating scientific advances into industrial practice to accelerate the transition toward sustainable, circular chemistry.
Bio:
Javier García Martínez is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Molecular Nanotechnology Lab, a world-leading research center working on the synthesis and application of nanostructured materials for the sustainable production of chemicals and energy at the University of Alicante, Spain. He is also the founder of Rive Technology, a technology-based company that commercializes nanostructured catalysts that significantly reduce CO2 emissions while increasing energy efficiency. In 2019, W. R. Grace acquired this technology and now commercializes it globally. Prof. García Martínez was president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) for the 2022-2023 biennium. Before that, he served as vice-president, a member of the Executive Committee, and vice-president of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry.
His contributions to catalysis, energy, and chemistry have been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards including 1) Innovator of the Year, 2007, by MIT, 2) Member of the Round Table of Top Entrepreneurs, 2008, by the European Commission, 3) Young Global Leader, 2009, by the World Economic Forum, 4) Emerging Researcher Award, 2015, and Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, 2018, by the American Chemical Society, 5) Premio Rey Jaime I, 2014, 6) Fellow of the International Science Council and the American Chemical Society and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Chemical Society and 7) vice president of the Council of Emerging Technologies of the World Economic Forum, 2011, 8) National Research Award presented by the King of Spain (2024).
The transition to a circular, low-carbon chemical industry requires new catalytic processes capable of transforming complex feedstocks such as waste, plastics, and biomass. This shift demands catalysts that combine high accessibility with precise molecular confinement, enabling the efficient conversion of large molecules while minimizing by-products, solvent use, and energy consumption and operating under milder conditions with excellent selectivity. Zeolites are among the most important industrial catalysts, but their microporous structure often imposes diffusion limitations. Over the past years, our laboratory has developed a wide range of strategies to overcome these limitations and achieve the long-standing goal of designing catalysts that simultaneously provide enhanced accessibility and the molecular selectivity characteristic of zeolites. These advances include methods to introduce intracrystalline mesoporosity and create hierarchical zeolite architectures, whose formation has been elucidated through advanced in situ techniques.
The resulting hierarchical zeolites show superior catalytic performance in reactions involving bulky molecules and have already demonstrated their industrial relevance. Their commercialization, initially through the MIT spin-off Rive Technology and later through major industrial partners such as Shell and W. R. Grace, illustrates how academic discoveries can be translated into market-ready technologies that improve existing refinery processes. These developments highlight the importance of academic entrepreneurship and technology transfer if we are serious about enabling a circular chemical economy. In this presentation, I will also discuss future directions and opportunities in nanoscale catalysis and emphasize the importance of translating scientific advances into industrial practice to accelerate the transition toward sustainable, circular chemistry.
Bio:
Javier García Martínez is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Molecular Nanotechnology Lab, a world-leading research center working on the synthesis and application of nanostructured materials for the sustainable production of chemicals and energy at the University of Alicante, Spain. He is also the founder of Rive Technology, a technology-based company that commercializes nanostructured catalysts that significantly reduce CO2 emissions while increasing energy efficiency. In 2019, W. R. Grace acquired this technology and now commercializes it globally. Prof. García Martínez was president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) for the 2022-2023 biennium. Before that, he served as vice-president, a member of the Executive Committee, and vice-president of the Division of Inorganic Chemistry.
His contributions to catalysis, energy, and chemistry have been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards including 1) Innovator of the Year, 2007, by MIT, 2) Member of the Round Table of Top Entrepreneurs, 2008, by the European Commission, 3) Young Global Leader, 2009, by the World Economic Forum, 4) Emerging Researcher Award, 2015, and Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, 2018, by the American Chemical Society, 5) Premio Rey Jaime I, 2014, 6) Fellow of the International Science Council and the American Chemical Society and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Chemical Society and 7) vice president of the Council of Emerging Technologies of the World Economic Forum, 2011, 8) National Research Award presented by the King of Spain (2024).
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Tom Nelis, Víctor Sabanza-Gil, Jeremy Luterbacher, Philippe Schwaller