Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Research activities and interests within the group focus on several different aspects of the synthesis of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemical transformations and green chemistry.
Our work involves a major synthetic component, most of which is carried out using inert atmosphere techniques. Work utilises solution-state NMR (within the department), mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography to probe the structure of the homogeneous catalysts.
Production of biopolymers: In this area my group is developing new initiators for the production of polylactide (PLA), co-polymers and polymers from terpenes. PLA is a biodegradable and annually renewable polymer. We are pioneering new ligands and complexes for the production of isotactic PLA – this work has recently been published in Chemical Science 2015 and Chemical Communications 2014, 2016. These papers describe a new “self-correcting” method of the polymerisation of lactide and illustrate the subtle nature that the initiator has on selectivity and rate of polymerisation.
Catalytic upgrading if renewables:
In this area we are interested in the conversion of ethanol into 1,3-butadiene (a monomer for the production of synthetic rubber). This is driven by the in-stability in the supply and the cost fluctuation of the monomer. There has been a lot of work in this area in the 1920’s, but with the bountiful supply of crude oil the “bio” route fell out of favour. This work has attracted industrial interest, (e.g. a patent has been filed WO2014180778A1) where we have developed a catalyst that is capable of producing butadiene with a selectivity in excess of 70%. There are still significant challenges posed by this research. For example, the selectivity towards ethylene and diethyl ether are relatively high. We are working on new catalysts (understanding how the acid/base properties affect this) to minimise these unwanted side reactions.
Also we are also working on projects involving the catalytic depolymerisation of lignin. This is important in the 21st Century as lignin represents a major un-tapped resource.
Keywords
- biopolymers
- catalysis
- sustainable chemistry
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Projects
Novel membrane catalytic reactor for waste polylactic acid recycling and valorisation
Jones, M. & Patterson, D.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
26/06/17 → 25/06/20
Project: Research council
UK Catalysis Hub - Reaction-Separation Engineering for the Production of Bio-Based Chemicals
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
28/11/16 → 30/11/18
Project: Research council
IAA - NOx Aftertreatment Development
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/08/16 → 31/03/17
Project: Research council
Global Collaboration Scheme - A biorefinery approach for the conversion of grape waste into value-added chemicals.
Bull, S., Jones, M. & Patterson, D.
1/04/14 → 22/08/14
Project: Research-related funding
Terpene-based Manufacturing for Sustainable Chemical feedstocks
Davidson, M., Bull, S., Frost, C., Jones, M. & Scott, J. L.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/02/13 → 31/07/18
Project: Research council
Research Output
Kinetics of Methyl Lactate Formation from the Transesterification of Polylactic Acid Catalyzed by Zn(II) Complexes
Román-Ramírez, L., McKeown, P., Jones, M. & Wood, J., 17 Mar 2020, In : ACS OMEGA. 5, 10, p. 5556-5564Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access
Mono- and Dimeric Zinc(II) Complexes for PLA Production and Degradation into Methyl Lactate – A Chemical Recycling Method
Payne, J., McKeown, P., Mahon, M., Emanuelsson, E. A. C. & Jones, M., 27 Feb 2020, In : Polymer Chemistry.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access
Shedding Light Onto the Nature of Iron Decorated Graphene and Graphite Oxide Nanohybrids for CO2 Conversion at Atmospheric Pressure
Owen, R., Cortezon Tamarit, F., Gonzalez Calatayud, D., Evans, E. A., Mitchell, S. I. J., Mao, B., Palomares, F. J., Mitchels, J., Plucinski, P., Mattia, D., Jones, M. & Pascu, S., 14 Feb 2020, In : ChemistryOpen. 9, 2, p. 242-252 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access
A Circular Economy Approach to Plastic Waste
Payne, J., McKeown, P. & Jones, M., 1 Jul 2019, In : Polymer Degradation and Stability. 165, p. 170-181 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
7
Citations
(Scopus)
Aluminium-Catalysed Isocyanate Trimerization, Enhanced by Exploiting a Dynamic Coordination Sphere
Bahili, M., Stokes, E., Amesbury, R., Ould, D., Christo, B., Horne, R., Kariuki, B., Stewart, J., Taylor, R., Williams, A., Jones, M., Harris, K. & Ward, B., 7 Jul 2019, In : Chemical communications (Cambridge, England). 55, 53, p. 7679-7682 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access
Datasets
Dataset for: N-doped Fe@CNT for combined RWGS/FT CO2 hydrogenation
Williamson, D. (Creator), Herdes Moreno, C. (Creator), Torrente Murciano, L. (Creator), Jones, M. (Creator), Mattia, D. (Creator), University of Bath, 11 Mar 2019
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00616
Dataset
Aluminium Salalens vs. Salans: “Initiator Design” for the Isoselective Polymerisation of rac-Lactide
Jones, M. (Creator), Davidson, M. (Creator), McKeown, P. (Creator), Kociok-Kohn, G. (Creator), University of Bath, 7 Jul 2016
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00220
Dataset
Advanced optimisations of fac-mer and trans-meso isomers of Zr(3)(OiPr)2
Buchard, A. (Creator), Figshare, 6 Oct 2014
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.1190538, http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1190538
Dataset
Metal influence on the iso- and hetero-selectivity of complexes of bipyrrolidine derived Salan ligands for the polymerisation of rac-lactide
Jones, M. (Creator), Buchard, A. (Creator), McKeown, P. (Creator), Brady, L. (Creator), Lowe, J. (Creator), Mahon, M. (Creator), Thomas, L. (Creator), Woodman, T. (Creator), Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015
DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01819F, http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1420458
Dataset
Thesis
Application of the Spinning Mesh Disc Reactor for Process Intensification
Author: Shivaprasad, P., 19 Jun 2019Supervisor: Jones, M. (Supervisor) & Emanuelsson, E. A. C. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
Catalysts for stereoselective transformations
Author: Cooper, C., 1 Jan 2012Supervisor: Jones, M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
File
Catalysts for Sustainable Chemical Technologies
Author: Di Iulio, C., 31 Dec 2012Supervisor: Jones, M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
File
Catalysts for the production of sustainable biopolymers
Author: Whitelaw, E., 11 Nov 2011Supervisor: Jones, M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
File
Conversion Of Carbon Dioxide To Hydrocarbons Using Iron Nanoparticle-Carbon Nanotube Catalysts
Author: Minett, D., 13 Jun 2014Supervisor: Mattia, D. (Supervisor), Jones, M. (Supervisor), Johnson, A. (Supervisor), Tooze, B. (External person) (Supervisor) & Smith, D. (External person) (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
File