Gary L. Haller

Research Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering
Room / Office: 204 Koerner Center
Office Address:
149 Elm Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 208386
New Haven, CT 06520
Phone: (203) 535-3360
Fax: (203) 432-8247
Email: gary.haller@yale.edu
Degrees:

Ph.D., Northwestern University

Interests:

The goal of our research has been to understand and rationalize heterogeneous catalytic activity and selectivity in terms of surface or catalytic site structure. Surface and/or site structure primarily requires spectroscopic characterization, but this is usually accompanied by physi- and chemisorption and model catalytic activity studies. We are currently investigating a variety of catalysts based on structured carbon supports, specifically on single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT and MWCNT).

Carbon supports, e.g., MWCNT, have a particularly desirable property of stability, relative to oxides, in hot liquid water, the medium for most biomass refining and processing. Grafted nanoparticles of oxides on MWCNT, e.g., ZrO2/MWCNT, can also be hydrothermally stable for ZrO2 particles of a few nm isolated on the hydrophobic MWCNT support. Acid sites can be created by sulfated or tungstated ZrO2 and co-supported metals, e.g., Ni, provide bi-functional sites for hydrolysis (acid function) and hydrogenation (metal function) required for biomass processing in liquid water at temperatures in the range of 200°C.

Integrated, multi-catalysts processes for methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) and methanol-to-olefins (MTO) are studied in connection with consulting and a visiting professorship at the Technical University of Munich.

Selected Publications:

  • Crossley, Steven P., Resasco, Daniel E.; Haller, Gary L. Clarifying the multiple roles of confinement in zeolites: From stabilization of transition states to modification of internal diffusion rate, Journal of Catalysis (2019), 372, 382-387.
  • He, Yulian; Guo, Facheng; Yang, Ke R.; Heinlein, Jake A.; Bamonte, Scott M.; Fee, Jared J.; Hu, Shu; Suib, Steven L.; Haller, Gary L.; Batista, Victor S.; Pfefferle, Lisa D. In Situ Identification of Reaction Intermediates and Mechanistic Understandings of Methane Oxidation over Hematite: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2020), 142(40), 17119-17130.
  • Zheng, Jian; Lee, Insu; Khramenkova, Elena; Wang, Meng; Peng, Bo; Gutierrez, Oliver Y.; Fulton, John L.; Camaioni, Donald M.; Khare, Rachit; Jentys, Andreas; Haller, Gary L.; Pidko, Evgeny A.; Sanchez-Sanchez, Maricruz; Lercher, Johannes A. Importance of Methane Chemical Potential for Its Conversion to Methanol on Cu-exchanged Mordenite, Chemistry - A European Journal (2020), 26(34), 7515.
  • Zhang, Wei; Cheng, Guanhua; Haller, Gary L.; Liu, Yue; Lercher, Johannes A. Rate Enhancement of Acid-Catalyzed Alcohol Dehydration by Supramolecular Organic Capsules, ACS Catalysis (2020), 10(22), 13371-13376.
  • Pfriem, Niklas; Hintermeier, Peter H.; Eckstein, Sebastian; Kim, Sungmin; Liu, Qiang; Shi, Hui; Milakovic, Lara; Liu, Yuanshuai; Haller, Gary L.; Baráth, Eszter; Liu, Yue; Lercher, Johannes A. Role of the Ionic Environment in Enhancing the Activity of Reacting Molecules in Zeolite Pores, Science (2021), DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3418?.

Selected Patents:

  • "Growth of Nanostructures with Controlled Diameter," US patent 7,485,279 B2, Feb. 3, 2009.
  • "Controlled Growth of Single-wall Carbon Nanotubes," US patent 7,357,983 B2, Apr. 15, 2008.

Additional Appointments:

  • Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich
  • Director, Henry Koerner Center for Emeritus Faculty, Yale University