Jordan Ward-Williams
Jordan Ward-Williams is a Research Associate at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded an Andrew Fellowship in 2020.
Jordan investigated how to improve the performance of catalysts by improving our understanding how molecules interact with the surface of a catalyst, and how they move within the catalyst.
Using Fast Field Cycling Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (FFC NMR) to study how water and ethanol molecules arrange themselves within the tiny pores of the catalyst, and how fast molecules move inside the catalyst.
This detailed understanding of catalyst interactions allowed Jordan to develop surface treatments to optimise interaction between reactant and catalyst, and to design catalysts with pores that are less likely to get blocked.
Understanding how molecules interact with catalysts at a very small scale and how this interaction affects the motion of the molecules through the catalyst will allow researches in academia and industry to develop new catalysts with good transport properties, which are essential for making sure that our chemical reactions run as efficiently as possible.
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