Dr Marios S. Katsiotis was awarded his PhD in October 2009 from the School of Chemical Engineering at the NTUA. During his thesis he worked on advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques at the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”. As a Senior Research Associate at The Petroleum Institute (PI) he has a key role in establishing the research collaboration between “Demokritos”, PI and other international partners. His work is focused on synthesis and characterization of functional materials including nanocatalysts for petroleum refining (transition metal sulphides and nanozeolites), carbon allotrope nanocomposites, metal oxide nanoparticles for H2S removal, polymer composites and asphaltenes.
As the interest of the Oil & Gas industry in Nanotechnology grows, it is becoming increasingly essential to define the future materials for refining and related processes. The Petroleum Institute in association with its international academic partners has developed a number of novel, nano-engineered materials to be used in oil and gas related processes, including hydrodesulfurization, alkane cracking and H2S removal. The progress achieved so far in determining morphological and structural properties and understanding behavior of several catalytic materials will be presented in this talk.