Howard Saltsburg
Research Professor
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
4 Colby Street, Rm. 124D, Medford, MA 02155
Tel: 617-627-5658 ~ Fax: 617-627-3991
howard.saltsburg@tufts.edu

Education
1955 Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Boston University
1951 M.S. Chemical Engineering, Boston University
1950 B.S. Chemical Engineering, City College of New York

Research Interests:
Following molecular beam studies of surface scattering and the use of solid state concentration cells to study the thermodynamic activity of oxygen and hydrogen on catalytic metal surfaces, Professor Saltsburg's current research in heterogeneous catalysis is driven by problems stemming from the economic need to have the maximum catalyst surface reaction area for a given mass of catalyst. Typically, small catalyst particles (1 to 10 nm diameter) are formed on a porous support. For many reactions, and counter intuitively, the rate per unit catalyst area is not independent of the size of the particle. To study this size effect, Professor Saltsburg and his students developed a new class of supported catalysts with one dimension in the nanometer range fabricated from a multilayer structure using standard nanofabrication processing. This new structure provides a controllable, supported catalyst system. For several reactions, only one nanodimension is required to exhibit a size effect and thus is not the result of a small number of atoms in the catalyst particle, the usual explanation. More recently the study of nanoscale Au-ceria catalysts has revealed that, using this nanothick multilayer structure with Au and ceria nanolayers, the metal-oxide interface controls the oxidation of CO. In a related study, it was shown that the assumption that nanogold was the active catalyst for the water gas shift reaction is incorrect. The catalytic entities are no larger than clusters of Au atoms embedded in the ceria surface. These same entities are likely to be present at the Au ceria interface. These ongoing studies are a collaborative effort with Prof Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos and are supported by the NSF. Prof Saltsburg also has been involved in revisions both in the chemical engineering laboratory curriculum as well as the seamless integration of chemical & biological engineering in the undergraduate curriculum. Prof Saltsburg was awarded a Humboldt Foundation Senior Scientist Fellowship in 1977 and is Professor Emeritus, Chemical Engineering, University of Rochester.

Selected Publications:
"The Role of the Interface in CO Oxidation on Au/CeO2 Multilayer Nanotowers" Zheng Zhou, Maria-Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Steven Kooi, Howard Saltsburg Submitted (2007).

"Low Content Gold-Ceria Catalysts for the Water Gas Shift reaction and Preferential CO Oxidation Reactions" W. Deng, J. DeJesus, H.Saltsburg, M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos Appl Catal A 291 166-135 (2005).

"Activity and Stability of Low-Content Gold-Ceria for the Water Gas Shift Reaction" Q. Fu, W. Deng, H. Saltsburg, M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos Appl Catal B 56 57-68 (2005).

"Nanostructured Au-CeO2 water-gas shift catalysts", Q.Fu, S. Kudriavtseva, H. Saltsburg, M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Chem. Eng. J. 93, 41-53 (2003).

"Active non metallic Au and Pt species on ceria-based water-gas shift catalysts" Q.Fu, H. Saltsburg, M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos Science 301 935 (2003).

"How Catalytic Reaction Mechanisms Reveal Themselves In Multiple Steady State Data, Part II", P.Ellison, M.Yue, H.Saltsburg, M. Feinberg, J.Mol.Catalysis (1999).

"Linear Metal Nanostructures and Size-Effects of Supported Metal Catalysts" I.Zuburtikudis, H.Saltsburg Science 258 1337 (1992).

"Surface Hydrogen in Heterogeneous Catalysis," H. Saltsburg, M. Mullins, Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 415, 82-96 (1983).

"Hydrogen Spillover: Effects on Pt Catalysed Ethylene Hydrogenation" H.
Saltsburg, M.E.Mullins in Spillover of Adsorbed Species (Elsevier1983, G.M.Pajonk, S.J.Teichner, J.E.Germain, eds) pg 295.

"Chemistry at Catalyst Surfaces: The Oxidation of SO2 on Noble Metals," C. Vayenas and H. Saltsburg, J. Catalysis 57, 296 (1979).

"Dynamical Aspects of Gas-Solid Interactions," H. Saltsburg, Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 493 (1973).