Welcome to the Toraman Lab!
Research
Check out the research our lab is interested in. We work on topics related to sustainability, chemical reaction engineering, and catalysis
People
Meet our principal investigator, graduate students and undergraduate students that work in our lab
Publications
Read about our publications
Our Research Interests
Our research focuses on chemical reaction engineering and catalysis. The ultimate research goal in Toraman’s Research Group is to develop mechanistic understanding of thermal and catalytic processes that will enable development of efficient, sustainable, and economically feasible technologies for upgrading of emerging feedstocks such as shale gas, biogas, biomass, and plastic waste.
Lab News!
2024
Dr. Toraman had the pleasure of attending the Remade Conference in Washington D.C., where the Remade team (Dr. Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Farhad Zaker Hosseiny, Md Nurus Sakib, Dr. Rui Shi) presented the project funded by the Remade Institute on Chemical Recycling of Mixed Plastics. The presentation, led by Farhad Zaker, one of the PhD students at Penn State, delved into the intricacies of technoeconomic analysis for catalytic pyrolysis of Polypropylene (PP).
2024
Publication Alert! Very delighted to share the most recent publication from a project funded by the Remade Institute that developed a web-based data storage and analysis center for chemical recycling of mixed plastics. Congratulations to the whole team: Nan Zhang, Connor Heaton, Sean Okonsky, Prasenjit Mitra, Hilal Ezgi Toraman.
2024
Interdisciplinary Talk by Prof. Toraman: Waste to Resource: Sustainable Plastic Management for a Circular Global Economy.
Professor Toraman recently delivered an insightful interdisciplinary talk titled “Waste to Resource: Sustainable Plastic Management for a Circular Global Economy” at The Millennium Café.
2024
Uniting Through Diversity: The Toraman Research Group at the Energy and Mineral Engineering Cultural Potluck, January 26, 2024 – Celebrating Traditions and Cultures from Around the World.
2023
Congratulations to Rowfi Khan for showcasing his research work on “In-Depth Analysis of Common Antioxidant Decomposition: A Comparative Study Using Two-Dimensional and One-Dimensional Gas Chromatography” in Materials Day 2023, organized by Penn State University.
2023
Congratulations to Dr. Toraman for being the recipient of Wilson Faculty Fellowship. Many thanks for this recognition Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences!
Dr. Toraman gave invited talks on 1) systematic approach to develop mechanistic insights into primary decomposition of polymers (Symposium on Chemical Deconstruction and Upcycling of Polymer Waste, 2) a TED-talk style narrative on her life and research (C&EN Talented 12 Symposium) and 3) an open source web-based data platform to support sustainable development of plastic recycling (Symposium on Big Data in Polymer Chemistry).
Together with Susannah Scott, and Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Dr. Toraman hosted a symposium at the ACS National Meeting in San Francisco. The symposium focused on “Chemical Deconstruction and Upcycling of Polymer Waste”
2023
Congratulations to Dr. Toraman for being recognized in Chemical & Engineering News’ esteemed list of Talented 12 in 2023. Toraman was selected for her research in technologies that turn waste into fuels, chemicals and other products. She will be attending several events at the ACS Fall 2023 meeting highlighting the T12—including the symposium, the Talented 12 and Centennial reception, and the Proud to be a Chemists interviews with the T12. She will give a TED-style talk on her life and research as part of the Talented 12 Symposium. See below the links from various media outlets:
2023
Barbara delivered her first talk during a conference on “Investigation of primary decomposition of polypropylene using a Py-GCxGC-FID/TOF-MS system”, Remade Circular Economy Tech Summit and Conference, March 21, 2023.
Dr. Toraman represented the REMADE project on “Chemical Recycling of Mixed PET/Polyolefin Streams Through Sequential Pyrolysis and Catalytic Upgrading during Remade Circular Economy Tech Summit and Conference, March 20, 2023.
2023
Dr. Toraman gave a poster presentation on “Insights into Co-Pyrolysis of Polymer Mixtures through Experiments, Kinetic Modeling, and Machine Learning” during the 27th International Symposium for Chemical Reaction Engineering, held in Québec City, Québec, Canada, from June 11-14, 2023
Barbara Alejandra Perez gave a poster presentation on “Investigation of primary decomposition of polypropylene using a Py-GC×GC-FID/TOF-MS system” during the 27th International Symposium for Chemical Reaction Engineering, Québec City, Québec, Canada from June 11-14, 2023.
Congratulations to both Barbara and Dr. Toraman for receiving the travel grant to attendthe 27th International Symposium for Chemical Reaction Engineering, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
2023
Dr. Toraman gave a webinar on Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) method development for detailed characterization of pyrolysis oils. It was part of the A Celebration of Women In Science 2023 organized by SepSolve Analytical.
2022
Congratulations to Dr. Toraman for being part of the advisory board for ACS Engineering Au. This is an open access journal reporting significant advances in chemical engineering, applied chemistry, and energy covering fundamentals, processes, and products.
2022
Our research findings on co-pyrolysis of LDPE and PET using catalytic pyrolysis has been highlighted in Penn State News
Our research findings on co-pyrolysis of LDPE and PET using catalytic pyrolysis has been highlighted in many news channels around the world including EurekAlert!, Packaging Europe, etc.
July 2022
Paper published as part of Emerging Investigator Series in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Journal: Catalytic co-pyrolysis of LDPE and PET with HZSM-5, H-beta, and HY: experiments and kinetic modelling
Paper published in Nature: Programmable heating and quenching for efficient thermochemical synthesis
June 2022
Welcome to Olivia who will start her REU internship in the Toraman Lab. Olivia will work on the plastic waste pyrolysis and data processing
April 2022
The Toraman Research Group kicks off a project with the Dow’s University Partnership Initiative
March 2022
Welcome to Ozge, who is joining our lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Ozge has worked on the design and test of catalysts used in the etherification of glycerol and acetylene hydrogenation. Ozge will work on the thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste
January 2022
November 2021
Gianna will be giving a lightning talk on “Methane activation on a solid oxide catalyst” at the 2021 WISER/MURE/FURP Undergraduate Research Symposium. The symposium will be held on November 17th from 7:00 PM to 9:20 PM.
Welcome to Jayaram, who is joining our lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Jayaram has worked on experimental and kinetic modeling studies on pyrolysis of polymers and e-wastes for resource recovery. Jayaram will work on the design for recyclability – assessing the impact of heteroatoms in mixed plastic waste streams on pyrolysis processes
October 2021
Congratulations to Prof. Toraman for being elected as the President of Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society (PCCS)
Prof. Toraman was a panelist for the Material Day 2021 and gave a talk on “How to Transform Plastic Waste into a 21st Century Resource by Combining Experiments, Data Science and Theory.”
Prof. Toraman gave an invited talk at the Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Society (PCCS) annual symposium. The title of her talk was “How to Transform Waste into a 21st Century Resource by Combining Experiments, Data Science and Theory.”
September 2021
Prof. Toraman will give an invited talk at Pittsburgh – Cleveland Catalysis Society (PCCS) Annual Symposium
Prof. Toraman will lead an interdisciplinary research team to develop Chemical recycling of mixed PET/Polyolefin streams through sequential pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading. Funded by REMADE Institute
Paper published: Ethylene production by direct conversion of methane over isolated single active centers
August 2021
Welcome to Gianna, who will work during the fall semester in the Toraman Lab. Gianna will work on the plastic waste pyrolysis research
Congratulations to Barbara for passing her qualifying exam
July 2021
Congratulations to Sean for passing his comprehensive exam