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George Huber

George Huber

Richard L. Antoine Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Environmental and political problems created by our dependence on fossil fuels combined with diminishing petroleum resources are forcing society to search for more efficient renewable sources of energy. The goal of the Huber research group is the design of disruptive technologies for the conversion of biomass, waste plastics and waste resources into fuels and chemicals.

We are developing new generations of catalysts, reactors, spectroscopic and imagining tools, and computational models that are essential for understanding and controlling the chemical transformations we study.

The Huber research group uses a wide range of chemical engineering tools including: heterogeneous catalysis, kinetic modeling, reaction engineering, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, nanotechnology, catalyst synthesis, conceptual process design, transport phenomena, economic analysis, and theoretical chemistry.

Department

Chemical & Biological Engineering

Contact

4631, Engineering Hall
1415 Engineering Dr
Madison, WI

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  • PhD 2005, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
  • MS 2000, Brigham Young University
  • BS 1999, Brigham Young University

  • Biofuels and Biochemicals
  • Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Pyrolysis
  • Plastic Recycling
  • Biodegradable Polymers

  • 2021 Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Kellett Mid-Career Award
  • 2019 National University of Singapore, ExxonMobil Visiting Chair Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • 2019 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Visiting Professor Programme
  • 2018 College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Richard L. Antoine Professorship
  • 2017 AICHE, Allan Colburn Award
  • 2015 Thomson Reuters , Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher
  • 2015 College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Harvey D. Spangler Professorship
  • 2015 Southeast University, Nanjing China, Guest Professor
  • 2015 Chinese Academy of Sciences, Visiting Professorship
  • 2013 Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship
  • 2013 Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Vilas Associate
  • 2012 Biofuels Digest, Top 100 People in Bioenergy
  • 2011 Camille Dreyfus Foundation, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
  • 2010 College of Engineering, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Outstanding Young Faculty Award
  • 2007 Armstrong Professional Development Professor
  • 2003 Scientific American, Discovery of Raney-NiSn catalyst named one of top 50 technology breakthroughs
  • National Science Foundation, CAREER Award

  • Singh, O., Aboukeila, H., Klier, J., Huber, G., & Grady, B. P. (2024). Synthesis and characterization of biobased copolyesters based on pentanediol: (1) Poly(pentylene dodecanoate-co-furandicarboxylate). Polymer Engineering and Science, 64(10), 4935-4946 https://doi.org/10.1002/pen.26892
  • Aboukeila, H., Singh, O., Klier, J., Huber, G., & Grady, B. P. (2024). Synthesis and characterization of biobased copolyesters based on pentanediol: (2) Poly(pentylene adipate-co-terephthalate). Polymer Engineering and Science, 64(10), 4746-4759 https://doi.org/10.1002/pen.26878
  • Sánchez-Rivera, K. L., Granger, C., Appiah, H., Nelson, K., Grey, S., Sun, D. J., Estela-García, J. E., Chen, E., Xu, Z., Osswald, T. A., Turng, L. S., McDonald, A. G., Van Lehn, R. C., Bar-Ziv, E., & Huber, G. (2024). Cast Film Production with Polyethylene Recycled from a Post-Industrial Printed Multilayer Film by Solvent-Targeted Recovery and Precipitation. ACS Materials Letters, 6(9), 4042-4050 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialslett.4c01048
  • Chavarrio, J. E., Kirkendall-Jones, K., Dastidar, R. G., & Huber, G. (2024). Catalytic Reduction of Esters over Zirconia-Supported Metal Catalysts. ACS Catalysis, 14(15), 11411-11424 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c01025
  • Karakaya, C., Adkins, B. D., McClelland, D., Victor, N., Barnett, K., & Huber, G. (2024). A Reactor Scale-Up Methodology from Lab-Scale to Pilot-Scale Operations: Numerical Modeling of THFA Dehydration to DHP in Packed-Bed Reactors. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 63(29), 12961-12976 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.4c01361
  • Wang, B. X., Cortes-Peña, Y., Grady, B. P., Huber, G., & Zavala, V. M. (2024). Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of the Production of Biodegradable Polyaliphatic-Polyaromatic Polyesters. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 12(24), 9156-9167 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c01842
  • Santiago-Martínez, L., Li, M., Munoz-Briones, P., Vergara-Zambrano, J., Avraamidou, S., Dumesic, J. A., & Huber, G. (2024). Carbon-negative hydrogen: aqueous phase reforming (APR) of glycerol over NiPt bimetallic catalyst coupled with CO2 sequestration. Green Chemistry, 26(12), 7212-7230 https://doi.org/10.1039/d4gc01896f
  • Wu, J., Papanikolaou, K. G., Cheng, F., Addison, B., Cuthbertson, A. A., Mavrikakis, M., & Huber, G. (2024). Kinetic Study of Polyvinyl Chloride Pyrolysis with Characterization of Dehydrochlorinated PVC. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 12(19), 7402-7413 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c00564
  • Canales, E., Hower, S. C., Li, D. P., Tambe, A., Rothamer, D., & Huber, G. (2024). Production of drop-in biodiesel blendstocks via competitive acid-catalyzed dehydration reactions using ethanol oligomerization products. Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 8(14), 3036-3047 https://doi.org/10.1039/d4se00362d
  • Tillinghast, G., Sánchez-Rivera, K. L., Huber, G., Winter, H. H., & Rothstein, J. P. (2024). Shear and extensional rheology of polyethylenes recycled using a solvent dissolution process. Rheologica Acta, 63(5), 345-360 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-024-01446-y

  • CBE 505 - Aspects of Industrial Chemistry and Business Fundamentals (Spring 2025)
  • CBE 599 - Special Problems (Spring 2025)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Spring 2025)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Spring 2025)
  • CHEM 505 - Aspects of Industrial Chemistry and Business Fundamentals (Spring 2025)
  • CBE 562 - Special Topics in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2024)
  • CBE 599 - Special Problems (Fall 2024)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Fall 2024)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Fall 2024)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Summer 2024)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Summer 2024)
  • CBE 450 - Process Design (Spring 2024)
  • CBE 599 - Special Problems (Spring 2024)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Spring 2024)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Spring 2024)
  • CBE 562 - Special Topics in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2023)
  • CBE 599 - Special Problems (Fall 2023)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Fall 2023)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Fall 2023)
  • CBE 890 - Pre-Dissertator's Research (Summer 2023)
  • CBE 990 - Thesis-Research (Summer 2023)