Principal Investigator Bernhardt Trout
Energy and the environment are two of the most crucial issues facing humanity in the 21st century. Supply of energy is correlated directly to economic growth and all the benefits thereof. Use of energy, however, leads to pollution. In these areas, the Molecular Engineering Laboratory at MIT focuses on new fuel sources, fuel transportation, and abatement of pollution.
Specifically, we have worked on natural gas hydrates, present throughout the seafloor and in the permafrost. These could contain hundreds of times more energy than other gas sources, but presently, no one knows how to release the gas from them. This is because the gas is trapped inside quite stable molecular cages.
Current work on gas hydrates involves developing kinetic inhibitors in order to prevent the formation of gas hydrates in pipelines. Gas hydrates can clog pipelines and prevent the development of deepwater gas pipelines.
Another recent project involves the development of the next generation of automotive and Diesel catalysts by molecular engineering. In these new systems, oxidation of NO is desired, but oxidation of SO2 leads to formation of SO3, which is a poison.
A hypothetical structure-composition relationship between the electronic properties of various metal catalysts (Weighted Ed) and the energy barrier to reaction, which governs the rate. In this case, we are interested in a catalyst that permits the oxidation of NO, but is selective against the oxidation of SO2. Thus, the catalyst should be chosen with a Weighted Ed as far to the right as possible.