Javier Ruiz-Martinez

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

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Research Interests

Professor Ruiz-Martinez's research interests lie at the interface of heterogeneous catalysis, material science, and spectroscopy. A strong emphasis is placed on unravelling the chemistry and kinetics behind chemical processes, such as catalyst synthesis, catalytic reactions and catalyst deactivation. His goal is to understand the structural properties of catalysts during synthesis and when working under real conditions, establishing relationships between material structure and catalytic performance/deactivation. The applied methodology is the development of novel spectroscopic tools and their application in industrially-relevant and model catalysts with well-defined porosity and reactive centers. Professor Ruiz-Martinez's research projects involve the study of chemical reactions, such as C1 chemistry, selective hydrogenation, and halogen chemistry for the activation and production of chemicals. 

Selected Publications

  • Acidity modification of ZSM-5 for enhanced production of light olefins from CO2. Dokania, A., Dutta Chowdhury, A., Ramirez, A., Telalovic, S., Abou-Hamad, E., Gevers, L.,Ruiz-Martínez, J., Gascon, J. Journal of Catalysis, 381, 347-354, (2020).
  • Deactivation of Sn-Beta during carbohydrate conversion. van der Graaff, W.N.P., Tempelman, C.H.L., Hendriks, F.C., Ruiz-Martinez, J., Bals, S., Weckhuysen, B.M., Pidko, E.A., Hensen, E.J.M. Applied Catalysis A: General, 564, 113-122, (2018).
  • Effect of Feedstock and Catalyst Impurities on the Methanol-to-Olefin Reaction over H-SAPO-34. Vogt, C., Weckhuysen, B.M., Ruiz-Martínez, J. ChemCatChem, 9(1), 183-194, (2017).
  • Influence of the Reaction Temperature on the Nature of the Active and Deactivating Species during Methanol-to-Olefins Conversion over H-SAPO-34. Borodina, E., Sharbini Harun Kamaluddin, H., Meirer, F., Mokhtar, M., Asiri, A.M., Al-Thabaiti, S.A.,...Ruiz-Martínez, J., Weckhuysen, B.M. ACS Catalysis, 7(8), 5268-5281, (2017).
  • Insights into the Activity and Deactivation of the Methanol-to-Olefins Process over Different Small-Pore Zeolites As Studied with Operando UV-vis Spectroscopy. Goetze, J., Meirer, F., Yarulina, I., Gascon, J., Kapteijn, F., Ruiz-Martínez, J., Weckhuysen, B.M. ACS Catalysis, 7(6), 4033-4046, (2017).
  • Glycidol hydrogenolysis on a cheap mesoporous acid saponite supported Ni catalyst as alternative approach to 1,3-propanediol synthesis. Gebretsadik, F.B., Ruiz-Martinez, J., Salagre, P., Cesteros, Y. Applied Catalysis A: General, 538, 91-98, (2017).
  • Operando Spectroscopy of the Gas-Phase Aldol Condensation of Propanal over Solid Base Catalysts. Hernández-Giménez, A.M., Ruiz-Martínez, J., Puértolas, B., Pérez-Ramírez, J., Bruijnincx, P.C.A., Weckhuysen, B.M. Topics in Catalysis, 60(19-20), 1522-1536, (2017).

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellow, Utrecht University 2013
  • PhD, University of Alicante, 2009
  • MSC, University of Granada and Norwegian University of Science and Technology 2003
  • BSc, University of Granada, 2001

Professional Profile

  • 2019- present: Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
  • 2015-2019: Heterogeneous Catalysis Specialist, AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, The Netherlands
  • 2013-2015: Assistant Professor, Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

KAUST Affiliations

  • ​KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC)
  • Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSA)
  • Chemical Engineering Program