Will Medlin
Professor • Chemical and Biological Engineering Chair

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering 

Education: B.S., Clemson University (1996), Ph.D., University of Delaware (2001)
Teaching: CHEN 3320 Thermodynamics, CHEN 5360 Catalysis and Kinetics, CHEN 3660 Energy Fundamentals
Research: Heterogeneous catalysis for (bio)renewable fuels and chemicals; surface science and interfacial phenomena

Office: BIOT D121

Honors and Distinctions:

  • Dept. of Chemical and Biological Eng. Graduate Teaching Award, 2020 and 2012
  • College of Engineering Dean’s Outstanding Research Award, 2015
  • AIChE Himmelblau Award for computer-based chemical engineering education, 2015 (shared with John Falconer, Janet Degrazia, Garret Nicodemus)
  • College of Engineering Hutchinson Teaching Award, 2009
  • Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award, 2009

Recent Publications:
** denotes work done in collaboration with graduate students
* denotes work done in collaboration with undergraduate students

  • **X. Zhou, J.L. Falconer, J.W. Medlin, “Mechanism of selectivity control for zeolites modified with organic monolayers”, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 337 (2022) 111913; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2022.111913
  • **M.J. Rasmussen, **S. Najmi, G. Innocenti, A.J. Medford, C. Sievers, J W. Medlin, “Supported molybdenum oxides for the aldol condensation reaction of acetaldehyde”, Journal of Catalysis 408 (2022) 216-226; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2022.03.002
  • **B. Greydanus, M. Saleheen, H. Wu, A. Heyden, J.W. Medlin, D.K. Schwartz, “Probing surface-adsorbate interactions through active particle dynamics”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 614 (2022) 425-435; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.01.053
  • **A.H. Jenkins, C.B. Musgrave, and J.W. Medlin, “Altering Linear Scaling Relationships on Metal Catalysts via Ligand–Adsorbate Hydrogen Bonding”, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125 (2021) 23791-23802; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c07550
  • **A.H. Jenkins, J.W. Medlin, “Controlling Heterogeneous Catalysis with Organic Monolayers on Metal Oxides”, Accounts of Chemical Research, 54 (2021) 4080-4090; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00469    
  • **P.D. Coan, C.A. Farberow, M.B. Griffin, J.W. Medlin, “Organic Modifiers Promote Furfuryl Alcohol Ring Hydrogenation via Surface Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions”, ACS Catalysis 11 (2021) 3730-3739; https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c04138
  • **L.O. Mark, W. Chen, C.N. Eads, D. Lu, J.A. Boscoboinik, D. Stacchiola, J.W. Medlin, S.A. Tenney, “Confinement Effects on Furfuryl Alcohol Reactions over Porous Bilayer Silica-Modified Pd(111)”, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 124 (2020) 25437-25446; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09095
  • **T.K. Slot, N. Riley, N.R. Shiju, J.W. Medlin, G. Rothenburg, “An experimental approach for controlling confinement effects at catalyst interfaces”, Chemical Science, 11 (2020) 11024-11029.  
  • **S. Najmi, **M. Rasmussen, G. Innocenti, C. Chang, E. Stavitski, S.R. Bare, A.J. Medford, J.W. Medlin, and C. Sievers, “Pretreatment Effects on the Surface Chemistry of Small Oxygenates on Molybdenum Trioxide”, ACS Catalysis, 10 (2020) 8187-8200; https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c01992.
  • **L. Freitas de Lima e Freitas, B. Puértolas, J. Zhang, B. Wang, A.S. Hoffman, S.R. Bare, J. Pérez-Ramírez, J.W. Medlin, E. Nikolla, “Tunable Catalytic Performance of Palladium Nanoparticles for H2O2 Direct Synthesis via Surface-Bonded Ligands”, ACS Catalysis, 10 (2020) 5202-5207; https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c01517.
  • **J. Zhang, S. Deo, M.J. Janik, J.W. Medlin, “Control of molecular bonding strength on metal catalysts with organic monolayers for CO2 reduction”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 142 (2020) 5184-5193; DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b12980.
  • **L.D. Ellis, *S. Parker, *J. Hu, M. Dzara, H.H. Funke, C. Sievers, S. Pylypenko, J.L. Falconer, J.W. Medlin, “Tuning gas adsorption selectivity and diffusion rates in zeolites with phosphonic acid monolayers”, Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 1 (2020) 100036; DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100036.
  • **M.J. Rasmussen, J.W. Medlin, “Role of tungsten modifiers in bimetallic catalysts for enhanced hydrodeoxygenation activity and selectivity”, Catal. Sci. Technol., 10 (2020) 414-423; DOI: 10.1039/C9CY02240F.
  • **B. Greydanus, D.K. Schwartz, J.W. Medlin, “Controlling Catalyst-Phase Selectivity in Complex Mixtures with Amphiphilic Janus Particles”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 12 (2020) 2338-2345; DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b16957.
  • **L.O. Mark, N. Agrawal, **A. Román, A. Holewinski, M.J. Janik, J.W. Medlin, “Insight into the oxidation mechanism of furanic compounds on Pt(111)”, ACS Catalysis, 9 (2019) 11360-11370; DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b03983.
  • **J. Ballesteros-Soberanas, **L.D. Ellis, J.W. Medlin, “Effects of Phosphonic Acid Monolayers on the Dehydration Mechanism of Aliphatic Alcohols on TiO2”, ACS Catalysis, 9 (2019) 7808-7816; DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b02082.
  • J. Zhang, **L.D. Ellis, B. Wang, M.J. Dzara, C. Sievers, S. Pylypenko, E. Nikolla, J.W. Medlin “Control of interfacial acid–metal catalysis with organic monolayers”, Nature Catalysis, 1 (2018) 148-155; DOI: 10.1038/s41929-017-0019-8.