David Hibbitts Ph.D., has been awarded a new grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The three-year, $450K grant will support collaborative work between Dr. Hibbitts (UF), Dr. Phil Christopher (University of California, Santa Barbara), and Dr. Andrew Getsoian at the Ford Motor Company through the NSF’s Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) program.

The study will improve the performance and efficiency of catalytic converters, which remove harmful gases from exhaust streams in automobiles. Catalytic converters have dramatically improved air quality since the 1970s in locations such as Los Angeles and these improvements underscore the enormous impact of heterogeneous catalysis on everyday life. Specifically, the work aims to understand how single-atom rhodium (Rh) catalysts differ from small Rh particles during the reduction of nitric oxide (NO) in automotive exhaust streams.

Graduate students from the University of Florida and the University of California-Santa Barbara will visit Ford Motor Company’s Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, MI for three months each summer to continue research as visiting scholars. Undergraduate students will be involved in the research project and will learn from the topic through in-class modules.