Sungmin Kim
Sungmin Kim
Biography
Sungmin Kim is a staff scientist in the Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His research aims to bridge the gap between the molecular description of catalytic reactions and the design of novel catalysts and catalytic processes.
His work focuses on fundamental aspects of heterogeneous catalysis while his expertise covers topics in industrial processes and the production of energy carriers at mild conditions. His research unravels reaction pathways on catalyst surfaces and focuses on linking the analysis of thermodynamic states of reacting molecules to the kinetics of catalyzed reactions and the synthesis of catalytic materials.
His expertise includes advanced physicochemical methods, in-depth spectroscopic characterization, and detailed kinetics, including isotope labeling, addressing the nature and structure of catalytically active sites, chemical functionality, and the relation to catalysis.
Kim has worked on the development of efficient CaO-based CO2 sorbents, fundamentals of catalyst design for methane reforming, bifunctional sorbent-catalyst material for sorption-enhanced reforming, and coupling reactions under the supervision of Professor Christoph Müller while completing his doctoral degree at the Laboratory of Energy Science and Engineering (ETH Zürich).
Research Interest
- Fundamental understanding of catalytic active sites
- Catalytic conversion of biomass and polymer derived wastes
- Developing design formulations for catalytic materials
- CO2 capture and conversion
Education
- PhD in mechanical and process engineering, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 2019
- MS in chemical and biomolecular engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea, 2009
- BS in chemical engineering, Inha University, Republic of Korea, 2007
Affiliations and Professional Service
- American Chemical Society
Publications
2024
- Zhang, W., H. Yao, R. Khare, P. Zhang, B. Yang, W. Hu, D. Ray, et al. 2024. "Chloride and hydride transfer as keys to catalytic upcycling of polyethylene into liquid alkanes." Angewandte Chemie International Edition. PNNL-SA-194381. doi:10.1002/anie.202319580
2023
- Chen, F., S. Kim, D. Barpaga, J. L. Fulton, R. K. Motkuri, O. Y. Gutierrez-Tinoco, D. M. Camaioni, et al. 2023. "Activity of Brønsted Acid Sites in UiO-66 for Cyclohexanol Dehydration." Topics in Catalysis 66. PNNL-SA-183955. doi:10.1007/s11244-023-01830-7
- Kim, S., N. R. Jaegers, W. Hu, J. Z. Hu, F. Chen, Q. Liu, D. M. Camaioni, et al. 2023. "Impact of the environment of BEA-type zeolites for sorption of water and cyclohexanol." Journal of Physical Chemistry C. PNNL-SA-189780. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c05405
- Kim, S., M. Lee, D. M. Camaioni, O. Y. Gutierrez, V. Glezakou, N. Govind, T. Huthwelker, et al. 2023. "Self-organization of 1-propanol at H-ZSM-5 Brønsted acid sites." JACS Au 3 (9): 2487–2497. PNNL-SA-179083. doi:10.1021/jacsau.3c00259
- Zhang, W., S. Kim, L. Wahl, R. Khare, L. V. Hale, J. Z. Hu, D. M. Camaioni, et al. 2023. "Low-temperature upcycling of polyolefins into liquid alkanes via tandem cracking-alkylation." Science 379 (6634): 807–811. PNNL-SA-179736. doi:10.1126/science.ade7485
2022
- Riley, B. J., S. Chong, J. Schmid, J. Marcial, E. T. Nienhuis-Marcial, M. Bera, S. Lee, et al. 2022. "Role of Zeolite Structural Properties toward Iodine Capture: A Head-to-head Evaluation of Framework Type and Chemical Composition." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 14 (16):18439–18452. PNNL-SA-163213. doi:10.1021/acsami.2c01179
2021
- Pfriem, N., P. H. Hintermeier, S. Eckstein, S. Kim, Q. Liu, H. Shi, L. Milakovic, et al. 2021. "Role of the ionic environment in enhancing the activity of reacting molecules in zeolite pores." Science 372 (6545): 952–957. PNNL-SA-161134. doi:10.1126/science.abh3418