Simon Bare

The Consortium for Operando and Advanced Catalyst Characterization via Electronic Spectroscopy and Structure at SSRL: Lessons Learned and the Path Forward

Simon R. Bare

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

The Consortium for Operando and Advanced Catalyst Characterization via Electronic Spectroscopy and Structure (Co-ACCESS) is a research program funded by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences and is located at SSRL. Its aim is to provide resources and know-how to catalysis researchers who wish to conduct their research at SSRL and has a strong focus in in-situ/operando catalyst characterization. In this talk I will provide an overview of the goals, the capabilities, and the resulting impact that Co-ACESS has had at SSRL and on catalysis characterization. The central tenet of Co-ACCESS is that by conducting collaborative research everyone gains. Examples of the research that has been enabled will be discussed and future plans presented.

Simon R Bare is a distinguished scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Lab’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of California at Davis. He obtained his PhD in surface chemistry from the University of Liverpool in the UK in 1982. After graduating, he held postdoctoral fellow positions at Cornell University and at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He then transitioned to industrial R&D and spent 10 years in Central Research at the Dow Chemical Company, and 19 years in research at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company, where he developed expertise in operando catalyst characterization. He started a new career at SLAC in 2016, where he leads a group using synchrotron X-ray methods to probe the structure of catalysts. His interests lie in the area of operando characterization of catalysts, developing and applying new catalyst characterization techniques, and developing structure-activity relationships in catalysis. He has over 150 publications and holds 10 US patents.