Assistant professor James RondinelliAssistant professor James Rondinelli has been awarded a two-year $100,000 research grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) in the Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) program.
With “Toward efficient design of noncentrosymmetric oxyfluorides: ab initio crystal engineering of next-generation catalysts,” Rondinelli aims to accelerate the discovery of materials that lack inversion symmetry (noncentrosymmetric), specifically oxide and fluoride containing compounds. These compounds are critical to future technologies based on chiral separation.
The grant will enable Rondinelli to use computational tools to design such materials which have become indispensable in stimulating efficient and high-yield asymmetric catalysis of fossil resources (petroleum, coal, and natural) into consumable fuels for transportation, industrial production and electricity generation.