Richard Randall
Postdoctoral Scholar, Mechanical Engineering
All Publications
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A Humidity-Tolerant Photocatalyst for Methane Removal.
Environmental science & technology
2026
Abstract
To mitigate the climate impacts of methane, there has been substantial interest in the complete oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide by using photocatalysis at ambient temperatures. However, previous studies have primarily examined methane concentrations well above those found at most emission sources and have overlooked the role of realistic humidity. This work reports methane oxidation rates at 25 °C for oxide-based photocatalysts for methane concentrations ranging from 2 to 5000 ppm. Even under dry conditions with less than 2% relative humidity, residual water attracted to the hydrophilic surfaces of these photocatalysts severely inhibits methane oxidation. Thinning this water layer boosts methane oxidation rates by up to 1 order of magnitude. Furthermore, surface modification of titanium dioxide with a hydrophobic fluorosilane coating (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane) enables room temperature photocatalytic removal of dilute methane even under conditions with up to 80% relative humidity. These findings and engineering solutions offer guidance for the development of light-driven approaches for scalable methane removal.
View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.5c16764
View details for PubMedID 41665929
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PyOpticon: An Open-Source Python Package for Laboratory Control, Automation, and Visualization
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
2025
View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5c00644
View details for Web of Science ID 001516922800001
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Requirements for CO<sub>2</sub>-free hydrogen production at scale
JOULE
2024; 8 (6)
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.joule.2024.05.010
View details for Web of Science ID 001299870800001
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Cost modeling of photocatalytic decomposition of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
2024; 19 (6)
View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ad4376
View details for Web of Science ID 001222365900001
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Low-temperature carbon dioxide conversion via reverse water-gas shift thermochemical looping with supported iron oxide
CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE
2023; 4 (9)
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101581
View details for Web of Science ID 001083119200001
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A semi-continuous process for co-production of CO2-free hydrogen and carbon nanotubes via methane pyrolysis
CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE
2023; 4 (4)
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101338
View details for Web of Science ID 001000123600001
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Iron-Poor Ferrites for Low-Temperature CO2 Conversion via Reverse Water-Gas Shift Thermochemical Looping
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
2022
View details for DOI 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c03196
View details for Web of Science ID 000855627400001
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2485-1837