Julie Rorrer
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering
Pronouns: she/her
- jrorrer@uw.edu |
- BNS 351
- Rorrer Lab
Education
- Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
- B.S. Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University
Previous appointments
- Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Statement
The Rorrer Lab leverages tunable heterogeneous catalytic systems to enable sustainable chemical transformations including the chemical upcycling of waste plastics, and catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived platform molecules. By developing targeted active catalytic sites to enable new chemical transformations and leveraging advanced characterization techniques, we aim to advance the field of renewable and sustainable chemical production, shifting away from fossil fuel consumption and mitigating the detrimental environmental effects of waste plastics.
Select publications
- Hancock, J.N.; Rorrer, J.E.;* "Hydrogen-Free Catalytic Depolymerization of Polyolefins at Mild Temperatures." Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (2023) 338: 123071 *corresponding author
- Rorrer, J.E.; Ebrahim, A.M.; Questell-Santiago, Y.; Zhu, J.; Troyano-Valls, C.; Asundi, A.S.; Brenner, A.E.; Bare, S.R.; Tassone, C.J.; Beckham, G.T.; Román-Leshkov, Y. “Selective Conversion of Polyolefin Waste to Liquid Hydrocarbons over Bifunctional Ru/Acid Catalysts.” ACS Catalysis (2022). https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c03596
- Nicholson, S.;* Rorrer, J.E.;* Singh, A.*; Konev, M.O.; Carpenter, A.C.; Rorrer, N.A.; Jacobsen, A.J.; Román-Leshkov, Y.; Beckham, G.T., “The critical role of process analysis in chemical recycling and upcycling of waste plastics,” Annual Reviews in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2022) 13:301-324. *equal contribution
- Rorrer, J.E.; Beckham, G.T.; Roman-Leshkov, Y.; “Conversion of Polyolefin Waste to Liquid Alkanes with Ru-Based Catalysts under Mild Conditions,” JACS Au (2021) 1:1, 8-12.
- Rorrer, J.E.; Bell, A.T.; Toste, F.D.; “Mechanism and Kinetics of Isobutene Formation from Ethanol and Acetone over ZnxZryOz.” ACS Catalysis (2019) 9:12, 10588-10604.
- Rorrer, J.E.; Bell, A.T.; Toste, F.D.; “Synthesis of Biomass-Derived Ethers for Use as Fuels and Lubricants.” ChemSusChem (2019) 12, 2835-2858.
Honors & awards
- ARPA-E IGNIITE Award (2024)
- 35 Under 35 Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2023)
- Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2021)
- Early Career Achievement Alumni Award, ASU Barrett Gold Standard Awards (2021)
- Mara H. Wasburn Early Engineering Educator Award (2019)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) (2016)
- Outstanding Graduate in Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University (2014)