BSc, PhD, MRSC
Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- a.mccue@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Natural and Computing Sciences
Biography
I recieved both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Aberdeen. I am heavily involved in the Department of Chemistry's undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and am the programme director our MSc in 'Chemistry for Sustainable Energy'. My research interests lie in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, with a particular emphasis on how activity and selectivity of hydrogenation catalysts (typically supported metals) can be manipulated by careful design. I also enjoy outreach work.
Qualifications
- BSc Chemistry2008 - University of Aberdeen
- PhD Chemistry2012 - University of Aberdeen
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Programme director - Chemistry for Sustainable Energy MSc
- External Memberships
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Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Latest Publications
The role of the activation heating source on the carbon capture performance of two new adsorbents produced from household-mixed-plastic waste
Journal of CO2 UtilizationContributions to Journals: ArticlesPaving the way to transfer hydrogenation of CO2 with bio-derived glycerol over Ni supported zeolite catalysts
Applied Catalysis A: General, vol. 687, 119971Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSpectroelectrochemical study of carbon structural and functionality characteristics on vanadium redox reactions for flow batteries
Materials Advances, vol. 5, no. 18, pp. 7170-7198Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNon-Oxidative Coupling of Methane via Plasma-Catalysis Over M/γ-Al2O3 Catalysts (M = Ni, Fe, Rh, Pt and Pd): Impact of Active Metal and Noble Gas Co-Feeding
Plasma Chemistry and Plasma ProcessingContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-024-10507-2
Unlocking the Structure-Activity Relationship of Hierarchical MFI Zeolites Towards the Hydrocracking of HDPE
Fuel, vol. 379, 132990Contributions to Journals: Articles
- Research
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Research Overview
My principle research interests lie in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, with a particular emphasis on how activity and selectivity of hydrogenation catalysts (typically supported metals) can be manipulated by careful design. This can be achieved by a number of methods which include:
- Alloy formation and controlling surface composition
- Modifying surface properties by adsorption of organic ligands
- Incorporation of an inorganic element to change the structure (i.e., Pd + S)
Prepared catalysts can be characterised by a number of different techniques which range from routine (i.e., XRD, microscopy, physisorption or chemisorption) to more specialised (i.e., in-situ FTIR, temperature programmed methods and XAS). Catalyst performance is then evaluated by testing in either the liquid or gas phase at either ambient or elevated pressure/temperature. The most common reaction of interest is the selective hydrogenation of an alkyne to an alkene without over-hydrogenation to the alkane. This is a process of importance with regards to polymer production (i.e., polyethylene or polypropylene) and commodity chemicals in a number of areas. Other reactions of interest include CO2 hydrogenation and biomass utilisation.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Chemistry.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Current Research
- Selective alkyne hydrogenation
- Development of CO2 hydrogenation catalysts
- Catalysts for biomass upgrading
- New and improved materials for gas separation
Funding and Grants
UKRI New Horizons - New route to zero carbon hydrogen (with Lancaster University as PI)
UK Catalysis Hub - Plasma-catalytic upgrading of biogas (with Dr Panos Kechagiopoulos as PI)
ScotChem - ATR for FTIR
UK Catalysis Hub - A supported molten-salt membrane reactor (with Newcastle University as PI & Glasgow University as CI)
Royal Society of Chemistry - Combining pulse chemisorption and FTIR into a single low-cost measurement
Carnegie Trust - Palladium sulphide as a hydrogenation catalyst
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
- Undergraduate, 5 year, September start
- Postgraduate, 3 semester, September start
Courses
Topic - Employability
Topic - Porous Materials
Topic - Porous Materials
Topic - Environmental Remediation
Topics - Flow Assurance, Catalysis, Natural Gas Chemistry
Topic - Catalysis
Topic - Employability
Topic - Utilising Biorenewable Resources
Topic - Hydrogen Generation & Liquid Storage
Topic - Renewable Chemical Production
Entire course - all aspects of Carbon Capture, Storage & Utilisation (CCSU)
Topic - Employability
Topic - Various lab experiments
Topic - Exploring sustainability within a business setting
Teaching Responsibilities
I currently coordinate our Chemistry for Sustainable Energy MSc. This programme gives students a high level understanding in the areas of electrochemical conversion devices (such as battery and fuel cell technology), carbon capture technologies and the hydrogen economy, amongst other topics.
- Publications
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Page 4 of 6 Results 31 to 40 of 58
Palladium phosphide nanoparticles as highly selective catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene
Journal of Catalysis, vol. 364, pp. 406-414Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCombined quantitative FTIR and online GC study of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis involving co-fed ethylene
Journal of Catalysis, vol. 362, pp. 10-17Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2018.03.026
Carbon Capture by Metal Oxides: Unleashing the Potential of the (111) Facet
Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 140, no. 13, pp. 4736-4742Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSimultaneous photocatalytic removal of nitrate and oxalic acid over Cu2O/TiO2 and Cu2O/TiO2-AC composites
Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 217, pp. 181-191Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSelective hydrogenation of mixed alkyne/alkene streams at elevated pressure over a palladium sulfide catalyst
Journal of Catalysis, vol. 355, pp. 40-52Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2017.09.004
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Combined quantitative FTIR and online GC study of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts
Journal of Catalysis, vol. 353, pp. 295-304Contributions to Journals: ArticlesQuantification and qualification by in-situ FTIR of species formed on supported-cobalt catalysts during the Fischer-Tropsch reaction
Journal of Catalysis, vol. 353, pp. 286-294Contributions to Journals: ArticlesQuantification of hydrocarbon species on surfaces by combined microbalance-FTIR
Spectrochimica Acta Part A, vol. 181, pp. 65-72Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNOx storage and reduction over copper-based catalysts. part 3: Simultaneous NOx and soot removal
Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 198, pp. 266-275Contributions to Journals: Articlesn-Heptane hydroconversion over sulfated-zirconia-supported molybdenum carbide catalysts
Applied Petrochemical Research, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 341-352Contributions to Journals: Articles