Physical Sciences Division
Oliver Y. Gutiérrez is a staff scientist at PNNL, where he leads a series of activities within the CTI and collaborates in other thrust areas related with catalytic transformations in condensed phases for fuel production. Oliver’s research aims to bridge from molecular description of catalytic reactions to the design of novel catalysts and catalytic processes. His work has focused on fundamental aspects of heterogeneous catalysis while his expertise covers topics in industrial processes and production of energy carriers driven by external potentials at mild conditions. In specific, catalytic target reactions have included hydrodefunctionalization of hydrocarbons, hydrogenation of aromatic compounds, thiol synthesis, bio-oil conversion, photocatalytic hydrogen generation, and electrocatalytic hydrogenation. His investigations have included mainly bulk or supported transition metal sulfides, and supported metal nanoparticles. The properties of these materials, in stages of preparation and during/after sorption and catalysis, have been investigated making use of rigorous kinetics and advanced characterization methods (i.e., in situ IR, Raman, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and temperature-programmed reactions).
Before joining PNNL in 2017, Oliver received his doctorate from the National University of Mexico, where he was awarded the Antonio Caso medal. Later, he received the Alexander von Humboldt fellowship and moved to Germany for a postdoctoral position at the chair of Technical Chemistry 2 in the TU Munich. In 2011, he was appointed senior scientist at the same chair, creating and leading a research group focused on catalysis for industrial applications.