GEOFFREY L. PRICE
Professor and Chairman

Research

 

Scintag PAD V x-ray diffractometer

Dr. Price's research interests are primarily in zeolites and zeolite catalysis. Chemical and petrochemical operations utilizing zeolites are vast.Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in Dr. Price's labs in several areas including solid-state ion-exchange of zeolites and alkylamine probes of zeolitic cations. One particular application has been in gallium zeolites which are useful for light paraffin aromatization. Dr. Price and his co-workers were the first to identify and describe an important solid-state ion-exchange process which takes place between gallium and zeolitic protons for this class of materials. Since the catalytic activity is driven by a bifunctional gallium/proton mechanism, the important catalytic properties are highly dependent upon the extent to which protons are eliminated from the zeolite by this ion-exchange process. Alkylamine probes have proven to be an effective technique for exploring the gallium/proton content of the zeolite host, and the method has been extended to copper-containing materials which have tremendous potential for several new NOx control strategies. We have developed a solid-state ion-exchange method for copper loading which allows higher levels of loading than previous reports which primarily rely upon aqueous ion-exchange. We have also identified some potentially valuable hydrocarbon conversion processes which occur on the copper-zeolite catalysts.Future research work will be directed largely toward expanding the cations which are amenable to solid-state ion-exchange and the development of new classes of catalysts with this technology.

NEWS FLASH: 

One of Dr. Price's Journal Articles Passes 150 citations and a second paper goes over the 100 citation mark! 

A paper published by Dr. Price dealing with gallium loaded zeolites for light paraffin aromatization reactions was a pioneering player in the field and set the stage for much of the subsequent discussion on the topic. It has now topped 150 citations since its publication in 1990, totaling 153 citations through December of 2004.

The article by G.L. Price and V. Kanazirev, "Ga2O3/HZSM-5 Propane Aromatization Catalysts: Formation of Active Centers via Solid State Reaction", Journal of Catalysis, 126, 267-278 (1990) announces the discovery that solid-state ion-exchange of gallium cations occurs under reaction conditions or under hydrogen reduction and replaces protons in the zeolite. This process greatly affects the acid/metal balance in the catalyst and alters the activity and selectivity.

According to recent statistics compiled by editors at the Journal of Catalysis, articles in their journal have the highest citation rates of any catalysis journal that publishes original research work at 3.6 citations per article per year. Accordingly, over the years from 1990-2004, an average article in Journal of Catalysis would accumulate about 50 citations assuming a constant citation rate, but the Price and Kanazirev article has been cited at 3 times that rate, suggesting a true impact in the field.

A listing of the citations is given here:

153 Citations

A second article by E. Iglesia, J. Baumgartner and G.L. Price, "Kinetic Coupling and Hydrogen Surface Fugacities in Heterogeneous Catalysis. I. Alkane Reactions on Te/NaX, H-ZSM5, and Ga/H-ZSM5", Journal of Catalysis 134, 549-571 (1992), has now passed 100 citations. This paper framed the rate limiting steps of alkane reactions in terms of a mechanism whereby the rate limiting step is the desorption of hydrogen, which results in the hydrogen surface fugacity surpassing the vapor phase fugacity of hydrogen. This was an important step in unravelling the kinetics of the catalytic systems. My thanks to Enrique Iglesia who was the primary author of this paper and made me a part of the work! As of December 2004, the paper had been cited 102 times. A listing of citations is given below:

102 Citations

Recent Publications: 

  • A. C. Gujar and G. L. Price, "Synthesis of SUZ-4 in the K+/TEA+ system", Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 54, 201-205 (2002).
  • A. Subbiah, B.K. Cho, R.J. Blint, G.L. Price, and J.E. Yie, "NOx Reduction over Metal-Ion Exchanged Novel Zeolite under Lean Conditions: Activity and Hydrothermal Stability", paper # 342h, AIChE Annual Meeting, Reno, NV, November (2001).
  • G.L. Price, "Verified Synthesis of SUZ-4", in Verified Syntheses of Zeolitic Materials, 2nd ed, Robson, ed., Elsevier (2001).
  • T.F. Guidry and G.L. Price, “The Conversion of 1-Propanamine on Copper-Containing MFI and BEA Zeolites Prepared by Aqueous and Vapor Ion-Exchange”, Journal of Catalysis, 181, 16-27 (1999). 
  • T.F. Guidry and G.L. Price, “The Selective Dehydrogenation and Dimerization of Amines over Cu Containing MFI Zeolites” in Catalysis of Organic Reactions, F. E. Herkes, ed., Marcel Dekker, New York, pgs 601-606 (1998). 
  • G.L. Price, V. Kanazirev, K.M. Dooley, and V.I. Hart, “On the Mechanism of Propane Dehydrocyclization over Cation-Containing, Proton-Poor MFI Zeolite”, Journal of Catalysis, 173, 17-27 (1998). 
  • G.L. Price and V. Kanazirev, "Guest Ordering in Zeolite Hosts”, Zeolites 18, 33-37(1997). 
  • G.L. Price and V. Kanazirev, "Copper-Containing Zeolite Catalysts", U.S. Patent #5,583,081(1996). 
  • K.M. Dooley and G.L. Price, eds., “Gallium-loaded Zeolites and Related Systems”, Catalysis Today 31. (1996). 
  • K.M. Dooley, G.L. Price, V.I. Kanazirev, and V.I. Hart; “Gallium-Loaded Zeolites for Light Paraffin Aromatization: Evidence for Exchanged Gallium Cation Active Centers”, Catalysis Today 31. 305 (1996). 
  • M. Stojanova, Chr. Karshalykov, G.L. Price, and V. Kanazirev, "On the Reactivity of H-, Ga- and Cu-MFI Zeolites towards t-Butyl Hydroperoxide (TBHP)", Applied Catalysis A 143(1), 175 (1996). 
  • V. Kanazirev and G.L. Price, "The Effect of O2 on the Thermal Activation of Zeolite Beta", Journal of Catalysis 161, 156-163 (1996). 
  • G.L. Price, V. Kanazirev, and K.M. Dooley, "Characterization of [Ga]MFI via Thermal Analysis", Zeolites 15, 725 (1995).  
  • K.M. Dooley, T.F. Guidry, and G.L. Price, "Control of Intrazeolitic Gallium Cation Content and It's Effects on C2 Dehydrogenation in Ga-MFI Catalyst", Journal of Catalysis 157, 66 (1995)  
  • G.L. Price, V. Kanazirev and D.F. Church, "Formation of Cu-MFI NO Decomposition Catalyst via Reductive Solid State Ion Exchange", Journal of Physical Chemistry, 99, 864 (1995).  
  • V. Kanazirev and G.L. Price, "Propane Conversion on Cu-MFI Zeolites", Journal of Molecular Catalysis, 96(2), 145 (1995).  
  • V. Kanazirev and G.L. Price, "Activity of Ga, In and Cu Modified MFI Zeolites for Amine Reactions", in Zeolites and Related Microporous Material, Weitkamp et al.(Eds.), Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 84, 1935-1942 (1994).  
  • V. Kanazirev, G.L. Price, and K. Dooley, "On the Interaction of 1-Propanamine with Cation Containing MFI Zeolite", Journal of Catalysis, 148, 164-180 (1994).  
  • V. Kanazirev, G.L. Price, and K. Dooley, "Change in the Decomposition Mode of 1-Propanamine due to the Presence of Cations in MFI Zeolite", Catalysis Letters, 4, 227-233 (1994).  
  • V. Kanazirev, K. Dooley, and G.L. Price, "Thermal Analysis of Adsorbed Propanamines for the Characterization of Ga-MFI Zeolites," Journal of Catalysis, 146, 228-236 (1994).  
  • K. Dooley, C. Chang, V. Kanazirev, and G. Price, "Pretreatment Effects on Active State and Aromatization Activity of Ga/ZSM-5 Catalysts", Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 75, 2415-2418 (1993).  
  • G.L. Price, V. Kanazirev, and K.M. Dooley, "Gallium-Containing Zeolite Catalysts", European Patent Appl. PCT-US91-02482 (1993).