Jose Herrera

Key Research Areas
Associated Researchers
Associated Organizations

Recent Research Projects

Remediation Education Network (RENEW)

2014/15-2019/20 • $1,650,000 • PI,CO
The Remediation Education Network (RENEW) is a CREATE program that will train the next generation of engineers and scientists in the interdisciplinary professional and technical skills they need to work at cleaning up the most challenging contaminated sites in Canada. Contamination of soil and...

Production of polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME) from sustainable feedstocks

2019/20 • $162,000 • PI,CO
One of the Grand Challenges faced by Canadian energy and petrochemical industry is the need of large scale, commercially deployable technology for synthesizing renewable liquid energy carriers. Through this project, researchers from a broad discipline across the Universities, North-American...

Field Testing of Novel Technologies for Restoring Challenging Contaminated Sites

2019/20 • $151,600 • PI,CO
Cleaning up contaminated sites in Canada is a significant challenge, in part due to the limited cost effective technologies that can efficiently reduce contamination to safe levels. This is a particular challenge when impermeable soils, such as clay and silts, are contaminated. The use of...

Engineering of Active Sites in Heterogeneous Catalysts for Sustainable Chemical and Fuel Production.

2019/20 • $28,000 • PI
Downscaling the global energy footprint of the chemical industry has been identified as an inevitable step toward global energy security. At the same time, the anticipated depletion of traditional oil resources has created a pressing need for the development of the technology needed to convert...

Development of a nanoparticle-based substrate to anchor a pathogen sensing system

2018/19 • $24,994 • PI
Recent advances on the synthesis and surface modification of nanoparticles have opened the potential to develop rapid-response and highly sensitive pathogen detection systems. However, the wide range properties of the different types of nanoparticles currently available complicate the selection...

Upgrading of light pyrolysis products to value-added chemicals and liquid fuels at atmospheric conditions

2014/15-2016/17 • $165,000 • PI,CO
No summary

Carbon nanotubes as next generation catalysts for heterogeneous partial oxidation and aldol condensation/ketonization processes.

2012/13-2016/17 • $100,000 • PI
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are the best known nanomaterials and their properties have attracted a significant attention from the scientific community. Applications of these materials include a wide range of areas, from tissue engineering to flat panel displays. In the specific field of heterogeneous...

A versatile, multifunctional system for full characterizations of reaction intermediates and pathways for sustainable synthesis of smart materials and value-added chemicals

2015/16 • $141,128 • PI,CO
<p>The versatile, multifunctional system for capturing reaction intermediates will support multiple existing and emerging research programs in the area of smart material discovery and applications, heterogeneous catalysis for fuel and chemical synthesis, next generation technology for bio-fuel...

Assessment of nZVI synthesis and mobility at a field trial

2011/12-2013/14 • $115,869 • PI,CO
The use of nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) for remediation of contaminated sites has received significant attention in part due to the ability of nZVI to rapidly transform contaminants in controlled laboratory experiments. One problem that has hampered the widespread implementation of nZVI is...

A versatile differential calorimetry system for evaluation of phase transition and fluid-solid interfacial thermodynamics in nano-structured solids, surfactants, and polymers

2012/13 • $147,876 • PI,CO
A high precision and flow through differential scanning calorimeter is requested in this proposal. This instrument will probe the heats associated with phase transition of materials and with the interaction of gas phase species on solid surfaces over a wide pressure and temperature range under...

Development of nanometals for source zone remediation

2010/11 • $120,310 • PI,CO
Environment Canada estimates that 29% of the population consumes groundwater as their domestic water so protection of this resource is essential to the health and well-being of Canadians. Historically, the subsurface was thought to act as a natural filter of wastes injected into the ground. The...

Deterministic sythesis and site specific functionalization of single walled carbon nanotubes and their application on the synthesis of functional materials

2010/11 • $25,005 • PI
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are an attractive material for a host of fundamental and applied studies, and their chemical functionalization has become an area of great interest for applications such as the fabrication of novel composite materials and chemical sensors. The mechanisms of...

Patents