Technical problems
Catalyst failure, reaction reliability, trace contaminant control, decomposition chemistry, scale-up, materials stability
Impact
Impact
I solve hard chemical engineering and catalysis problems that sit between science, product, and mission-critical hardware. My work focuses on turning catalyst, materials, and process concepts into reliable systems for aerospace, environmental control, propulsion, water treatment, and advanced energy applications.
Executive Snapshot
I help organizations reduce technical risk in catalyst-enabled aerospace and environmental systems. My work connects chemistry, materials, reactor behavior, test planning, and hardware constraints so promising concepts move toward reliable capability.
Development value
Risk reduction, test strategy, down-selection, root-cause analysis, lab-to-hardware transition
Strategic fit
R&D leadership, catalyst roadmapping, aerospace chemistry, ECLSS, propulsion, water treatment, AI-assisted scientific workflows
What Technical Problems I Solve
Catalyst systems that must work under severe chemical, thermal, or operational constraints
Spacecraft air purification, trace contaminant control, and catalytic oxidation
Monopropellant and peroxide decomposition catalyst development
Advanced oxide supports, stabilized alumina, hafnia, washcoats, pellets, and structured catalysts
Electrochemical and catalytic water treatment systems
Scale-up from lab experiments to product-relevant hardware
Root-cause analysis when catalyst beds, reactors, or chemical processes fail
Translating scientific uncertainty into practical test plans, design decisions, and risk reduction
Where My Expertise Is Strongest
The strongest thread is practical translation: connecting chemistry, materials behavior, process constraints, and system risk.
Catalysis and catalyst materials
Chemical reaction engineering
Aerospace environmental control and ECLSS chemistry
Propulsion catalyst systems
Oxide supports, surface chemistry, impregnation, washcoating, and thermal stability
Electrochemistry, AOP, and water treatment
Process development, test design, and product transition
Technical leadership across R&D, engineering, and operations
Selected Public-Safe Achievements
Careful public wording only. Exact performance values, program details, customer details, and non-public milestones are intentionally omitted.
- Principal Scientist working at the interface of catalysis, aerospace systems, and product development.
- Helped advance catalyst technologies from laboratory concepts toward flight-relevant or product-relevant systems.
- Developed and evaluated catalysts for spacecraft trace contaminant control and catalytic oxidation.
- Developed public-safe catalyst development frameworks for monopropellant and peroxide decomposition; exact performance values are omitted unless approved for release.
- Supported technical problem-solving across catalyst synthesis, reactor behavior, materials stability, and system-level performance.
- Built a technical identity around From Lab to Product, innovation leadership, and process and technology transfer.
Public Research Record
Scholar-visible records are included without publishing static citation counts. Current metrics should be checked on the live Google Scholar profile.
My public research record spans catalysis, advanced materials, chemical engineering, electrocatalysis, single-atom and nano-catalysts, fuel-cell and water-electrolysis topics, CO2 conversion, and applied catalyst development.
Selected Scholar-Visible Records
- Klopotic, J.; Shakouri, N.; Petrie, Z.; Coleman, B.; Wetzel, J.; Moffatt, S. “Design & Testing of a Catalytic Oxidizer for Cleaning of Hazardous Compounds in the Trash Compaction & Processing System (TCPS) Effluent Gas.” International Conference on Environmental Systems (2024).
- Klopotic, J.; Shakouri, N.; Petrie, Z.; Wetzel, J. “Testing and Characterization of a Catalytic Oxidizer for Trace Contaminant Control.” Scholar-listed public record (2025).
- Moffatt, S. A.; Mentink, M. J.; Martinez, M. M.; Fischer, J.; et al. “The LIFE Habitat (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) Air Revitalization System Development.” International Conference on Environmental Systems (2023).
- Zhou, H.; Xiong, W.; Shakouri, A.; Lu, Y.; Regalbuto, J. R.; Monnier, J. R.; et al. “Precision Size Control of Supported Pd and Pt Nanoparticles via Controlled Electroless Deposition.” Catalysts 15(2), 156 (2025).
- Adabi, H.; Shakouri, A.; Zitolo, A.; Asset, T.; Khan, A.; Bohannon, J.; et al. “Multi-atom Pt and PtRu catalysts for high performance AEMFCs with ultra-low PGM content.” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 325, 122375 (2023).
- Dong, A.; Shakouri, A.; Karakalos, S.; Blom, D.; Williams, C. T.; Regalbuto, J. R. “The preparation of silica supported, dilute limit PdAu alloys via simultaneous strong electrostatic adsorption.” Catalysis Science & Technology 13(10), 3020–3034 (2023).
- Shakouri, A.; Adabi Firouzjaie, H.; Stavros, K. G.; Mustain, W. E.; Regalbuto, J. R.; et al. “The Simple Synthesis of High Metal Loading Single-Atom Catalysts via Chelate Fixation.” ChemRxiv (2022).
- Adabi, H.; Shakouri, A.; Ul Hassan, N.; Varcoe, J. R.; Zulevi, B.; Serov, A.; et al. “High-performing commercial Fe–N–C cathode electrocatalyst for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells.” Nature Energy 6(8), 834–843 (2021).
- Adabi, H.; Santori, P. G.; Shakouri, A.; Peng, X.; Yassin, K.; Rasin, I. G.; et al. “Understanding how single-atom site density drives the performance and durability of PGM-free Fe–N–C cathodes in anion exchange membrane fuel cells.” Materials Today Advances 12, 100179 (2021).
- Xiong, W.; Mehrabadi, B.; Karakalos, S.; White, R.; Shakouri, A.; Kasak, P.; et al. “Enhanced performance of oxygen-functionalized, multi-walled carbon nanotubes as support for Pt and Pt-Ru bimetallic catalysts for methanol electrooxidation.” ACS Applied Energy Materials (2020).
Public Patent Record
Patent records listed here are limited to public Scholar-visible patent records and public applications/disclosures.
- Method to produce high densities of isolated atoms on support substrates — US Patent 12,226,754 (2025)
- Electrostatic-based methods and systems for control of rheological behavior — US Patent 12,065,555 (2024)
- Scalable method for production of supported catalysts — US Patent 11,772,089 (2023)
- Scalable method to produce single-atom catalysts on support substrates — US Patent 62/241,231 (2021)
- Electrostatic effects as a tool to adjust rheological behavior — US Patent Tech ID# 1,522 (2021)
- Method to produce high densities of isolated atoms on support substrates — US Patent App. 63/131,858 (2020)
Roles And Collaborations That Make Sense
Director or senior technical leadership roles in catalysis, chemical sciences, aerospace chemistry, environmental control, propulsion chemistry, advanced materials, or energy systems
R&D strategy and technical roadmapping for catalyst-enabled products
Advisory or consulting work for catalyst development, reactor troubleshooting, materials selection, or process scale-up
Collaborations with aerospace, energy, environmental, and advanced manufacturing teams
Investor or founder-facing technical due diligence for catalyst, electrochemical, or chemical-process technologies
AI-agent development for catalysis, process design, literature synthesis, and R&D workflow acceleration
Closing Statement
The common thread in my work is practical scientific translation: identifying the controlling chemistry, designing the right experiment, reducing technical risk, and moving promising ideas toward systems that work.