Staff information

Biography

Dr. Lercher is internationally renowned for his work on the fundamental aspects of industrially relevant catalyzed reactions. The targeted reactions are the low-temperature acid-catalyzed activation, functionalization, and transformation of alkanes; the oxidative activation of light alkanes including methane; and the hydrogenation and cracking of heavy biogenic and fossil molecules.

Research Interests

• Dr Lercher's work provides insight into the reaction steps on the surface of solid catalysts on an elementary level. This knowledge is used to design and synthesize nanoscopically well-defined, chemically functionalized surfaces and materials. The synthesis and modification of the target materials is controlled on the level of the individual chemical reactions during the genesis of the nanoscopic particles and the assembly of the pre-functionalized entities.

Education and Credentials

• Battelle Fellow, Director Institute for Integrated Catalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA, 2011
• Professor, Chemistry Department, Technische Universität München, Germany
• Member of the Senate, TU München, 1998-2012
• Chairman of the Chemistry Department, Technische Universität München, 2000-2007
• Professor of Chemical Technology, University of Twente, The Netherlands, 1993-1998
• Head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Heterogeneous Catalysis, 1990-1996
• Head of the research group "Surface Chemistry and Catalysis" at the Institute for Physical Chemistry, TU Vienna, 1989-1993
• Assistant/Associate Professor at the TU Vienna, 1989-1993
• Lecturer at the TU Vienna, Austria, 1985-1989
• Research fellow and visiting lecturer, Yale University, Department of Chemical Engineering, 1982
• University Assistant at the Institute for Physical Chemistry, TU Vienna, 1978-1985
• Studies of Chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology, 1972-1978
• Graduate work in Chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology, Title of the thesis: "Acid Sites on Al₂O₃/MgO and Al₂O₃/SiO₂ Mixed Metal Oxides" (summa cum laude), 1978-1980
• Habilitation (venia docendi) for Physical Chemistry, 1985

Affiliations and Professional Service

• Vice President, German Catalysis Society
• German Delegate, European Federation of Catalysis Societies
• Chairman of the Bavarian Section of the German Association of Gas Coal and Petroleum
• Board of the German Association of Gas, Coal and Petroleum

Awards and Recognitions

• Tanabe Prize for Acid-Base Catalysis (2013)
• Vladimir Haensel Invitational Lecturer in Catalysis, UOP LLC (2012)
• Zhang Dayu Lectureship, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2012)
• Robert Burwell Lecturer, North American Catalysis Society (2011)
• Honorary Professor, China University of Petroleum (2011)
• Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2008)
• PE- Prof. R. Kumar CDS Award of the Indian Chemical Engineering Society (2005)
• Honorary Professor, CAS Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology

PNNL Publications

2013

• Shi H, OY Gutierrez, GL Haller, D Mei, RJ Rousseau, and JA Lercher. 2013. "Structure sensitivity of hydrogenolytic cleavage of endocyclic and exocyclic C-C bonds in methylcyclohexane over supported iridium particles." Journal of Catalysis 297:70-78.  doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2012.09.018

2012

• Zhao C, DM Camaioni, and JA Lercher. 2012. "Selective catalytic hydroalkylation and deoxygenation of substituted phenols to bicycloalkanes." Journal of Catalysis 288:92-103.  doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2012.01.005

Selected Publications

2011

•  Zhao C, J He, AA Lemonidou, Li X, and JA Lercher. 2011. Journal of Catalysis. "Aqueous-Phase Hydrodeoxygenation of Bio-Derived Phenols to Cycloalkanes."  280:8-16.

2010

• Wawrzetz A, B Peng, A Hrabar, A Jentys, AA Lemonidou, and JA Lercher. 2010. "Towards Understanding the Bifunctional Hydrodeoxygenation and Aqueous Phase Reforming of Glycerol." Journal of Catalysis 269:411-420.
• Zhao C, Y Kou, AA Lemonidou, X Li, and JA Lercher. 2010. "Hydrodeoxygenation of Phenols to Hydrocarbons using Raney Ni and Nafion/SiO₂ Catalysts."  Chemical Communications 46:412-414.

2009

• Gobin OC, SJ Reitmeier, A Jentys, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Comparison of the Transport of Aromatic Compounds in Small and Large MFI Particles." Journal of Physical Chemistry C 113:20435-20444.
• Gobin OC, SJ Reitmeier, A Jentys, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Diffusion Pathways of Benzene, Toluene and p-Xylene in MFI." Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 125:3-10.
• Kaltner W, A Jentys, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Effect of Chromium Migration from Metallic Supports on the Activity of Diesel Exhaust Catalysts."  Applied Catalysis B, Environmental 89:123-127.
• Knapp R, A Jentys, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Impact of Supported Ionic Liquids on Supported Pt Catalysts."  Green Chemistry 11:656-661.
• Peringer E, M Salzinger, M Hutt, AA Lemonidou, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Modified Lanthanum Catalysts for Oxidative Chlorination of Methane." Topics in Catalysis 52:1220-1231.
• Peringer E, M Salzinger, M Hutt, AA Lemonidou, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Modified Lanthanum Catalysts for Oxidative Chlorination of Methane." Topics in Catalysis 52:1220-1231.
• Reitmeier SJ, OC Gobin, A Jentys, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Influence of Post-synthetic Surface Modification on Shape Selective Transport of Aromatic Molecules in HZSM-5." Journal of Physical Chemistry C 113:15355-15363.
• Schärringer P, TE Müller, A Jentys, A Suppan, and JA Lercher. 2009. "Identification of Reaction Intermediates During Hydrogenation of CD₃CN on Raney-Co."  Journal of Catalysis 263:34-41.