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Prof. Daniel E. Resasco - Group Leader
Professor Daniel Resasco holds the S.A. Wilson Professorship from the
School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering at the
University of Oklahoma. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at
the Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina (1975) and his Ph.D. from
Yale University (1984).
He has been appointed Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department
at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (1983-1990) and Visiting
Professor in Yale University (1986-86, 1991). In 1987 he received the B.
Houssay Award for Scientific Achievement from the National Research
Council of Argentina. He has also served as a Chairman in the Chemical
Engineering Department at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata
(1987-88). From 1991 to 1993 he was appointed Senior Scientist at Sun
Company, Inc., Pennsylvania. He has been member of the Executive
Committee of the International Congress on Catalysis (1996), and is
currently associate editor of the Journal of Catalysis.
Leandro Balzano - Chief Development Engineer
Leandro Balzano, co-founder and chief development engineer of Southwest NanoTechnologies, is a Chemical Engineer with 6 years of experience in Catalysis and Reactor Design. He conducted research at the Catalysis Laboratory at Universidad de Buenos Aires where he designed catalytic reactors for the production of Acetal, which is an oxygenated additive for Diesel. With Exxon Corp. (Argentina) he developed departmental tasks automation programs. In October of 1999 he joined Dr. Resasco's group at the University of Oklahoma as a Visiting Research Associate. In this position, he designed a continuous catalytic reactor for the production of SWNT, resulting in several issued and pending U.S. patents. During the following two years he scaled up the production of carbon nanotubes gaining experience in several techniques used for the characterization of SWNTs. After optimizing the reaction and pretreatment conditions, he designed and built a fluidized bed Reactor for the SWeNT process. His current focus is on the further scale up of this process and on the development of different applications for carbon nanotubes such as field emission devices, fuel cells, conductive films and polymer composites. Leandro Balzano received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1999, a M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2002 and he is currently seeking a doctorate degree at the University of Oklahoma. During the past three years Leandro also served as the Principal Investigator in several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards including a phase II award, from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA).
Zhongrui Li - Research Associate
Dr. Zhongrui Li got his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2000. After graduation he joined a research effort on magnetism studies using polarized synchrotron radiation at the Free University of Berlin (2001). In 2002 he joined the University of Georgia as a postdoctoral fellow. There he studied structure-function relationships in metalloenzymes active sites using X-Ray absorption techniques. His main research interest lays on the application of X-Ray based spectroscopies in the study of electronic and local structure of catalysts, magnetic systems and biomaterials. His current duty in Dr. Resasco's group is to operate and maintain the XPS and XRD systems. He is also partly involved in carbon nanotube and diesel hydrogenation projects. So far he has published more than 30 works.
Liang Zhang - Graduate Student
Liang Zhang received his B.S. in 1998 from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the China Textile University in Shanghai, China. After graduation he joined the graduate program at Dong Hua University, there he worked on the chemical modification of wool to enhance wool's function and reduce the presence of volatile halo-organics in the effluents of the wool industry. He got his M.Sc. degree in 2001 and got a position in a specialty chemical company as a R&D engineer. His work was focused on the synthesis and formulation of silicon-containing materials. In 2002 he joined the Ph.D. program at the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma under the supervision of Dr. Resasco. His research activity involves 1) controlled production of SWNT in terms of diameter, chirality, bundle size, length on the support of porous materials and 2) Growth of vertically-oriented SWNT or random network on flat surface with whole coverage or pattern, and 3) applications of SWNT, for example, field emission and transparent electrodes.
Giulio Lolli - Graduate Student
Giulio Lolli got his B.S./M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) in October 2003. Before graduation he joined Dr. Forzatti's heterogeneous catalysis group at the same university. His thesis work was based on the characterization and control of the sol-gel transition in dispersible nanostructured alumina slurries used as washcoats in supported catalysts. After graduation he worked as R&D engineer in a semiconductor packaging company in Italy. In 2004 he joined Dr. Resasco's group. He is currently working on a Ph.D. degree focused on the production and tailoring of SWNT to meet the needs of specific applications.
Yongqian Tan - Research Associate
Dr. Yongqiang Tan got his B.S. degree from China University of Petroleum (Beijing) in 1996. In the same year, he joined China Petroleum and Chemical Co.(Sinopec) where he worked as engineer and participated in the research of a new catalyst for preparing acrylonitrile from propylene by ammoxidation. He received his Ph.D degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi in 2004. His research was focused on surfactants and interfacial phenomena. He joined Dr. Resasco's group as a postdoctoral research associate after graduation,. His current work is focused on the dispersion and characterization of SWNTs.
Federico Scodelaro - Graduate Student
Federico Scodelaro got his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional del Sur at Bahia Blanca, Argentina, in July 2004. His thesis work involved the preparation of synthetic clays for use as a filler in polyolefin-based nanocomposites. In August 2004 he joined Dr. Resasco's group where he is working in electrical properties of SWNT and their applications in Fuel Cells and Sensing devices.
Stefano Cosma - Graduate Student
Stefano Cosma was born in Cremona (Italy). He graduated in chemical engineering on Politecnico di Milano (Milan) in the academic year 2004 and joined Dr. Resasco's group in January 2006 for a Masters Degree. His thesis work in Italy was about production of MWNTs using Fe/Al2O3 catalyst, and their use in gas sensor applications. His current research at CBME is on production of SWNTS using Co-Mo catalyst on Si wafers.