Background

Education

Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (2010)
Purdue University, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2010 – Present)

Academic Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Poster Presentation Award, Graduate Research Symposium – School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, 2012.
• Invited Keynote Lecture, 2012 AIChE annual meeting Pittsburgh, PA, 2012.
• Best Presentation Award, Catalytic Hydrogen Generation Session, AIChE annual meeting ,Pittsburg, PA, 2012.
• 2014 Estus H. and Vasthti L. Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of engineering, Purdue University

Presentations

• K.D. Sabnis, M. Shekhar, W.D. Williams, W.S.Lee,, J.T. Miller, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, 246th ACS National Meeting, Catalysis of Water-Gas Shift: Effect of Oxide Support, Indianapolis, IN, September, 2013.
• K.D. Sabnis, Y. Cui, F.G Sollberger, M. Shekhar, W.S.Lee M. Cem Akatay, J.T. Miller, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, 23rd North American Meeting, Water-Gas Shift Catalysis over Transition Metals Supported on Molybdenum Carbide, Louisville, KY, June 2013.
• K.D. Sabnis, M. Shekhar, W.D. Williams, W.S.Lee,, J.T. Miller, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, Michigan Catalysis Society Symposium, Catalysis of Water-Gas Shift over Supported Au Nanoparticles, Dearborn, MI, May 2013
• K.D. Sabnis, Y. Cui, F.G Sollberger, M. Shekhar, W.S.Lee M. Cem Akatay,, J.T. Miller, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, AIChE Annual Meeting, Water-Gas Shift Catalysis over Transition Metals Supported on Molybdenum Carbide, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2012.
• K.D. Sabnis, M. Shekhar, W.S.Lee, J.T. Miller, W.N. Delgass, F.H. Ribeiro, Spring Symposium of the Catalysis Club of Chicago, Water-Gas Shift Catalysis over Transition Metals Supported on Molybdenum Carbide, Naperville, IL, May 2012.

Summary of Research Work

The Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction (CO + H₂O -> CO₂ + H₂) has significant impact on energy issues as it plays a pivotal role in hydrogen generation. Unsupported Molybdenum Carbide (Mo₂C) offers WGS rate per gram of catalyst that is comparable to the industrial Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst. My doctoral work focuses on the kinetic and spectroscopic analyses of the catalysts synthesized by the deposition of various transition metals over Mo₂C. Controlled catalyst synthesis, kinetic analysis and in situ catalyst characterization are used as tools to establish the structure-activity relationship for WGS reaction. In summary, this work has led to identification of chemical descriptor, along with determination of active sites, for WGS over Metal/Mo₂C catalytic systems.