Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos (1950 - October 28, 2019) was a Greek chemical engineer and, at the time of her death, had been the Robert and Marcy Haber Endowed Professor in Energy Sustainability and a distinguished professor at
Tufts University. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos had also been the
Raytheon Professor of Pollution Prevention at Tufts. She published more than 160 scientific articles with over 14,000 citations as of April 2018. She was a Fellow of
AIChE, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science and
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.[1][2][3] She lived in the Greater Boston Area with her husband, Professor
Gregory Stephanopoulos of MIT.[4]
Early life and education
Maria Flytzani was born and grew up in
Greece. In 1973, she earned her diploma in chemical engineering from the
National Technical University of Athens. She continued her studies at the
University of Florida where she received a master's degree in chemical engineering in 1975. She completed her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the
University of Minnesota in 1975 with advisor
Lanny D. Schmidt on the topic of oscillations in heterogeneous catalysis. Her thesis was published in 1978 with the title, "Surface Morphology of Platinum Catalysts and Oscillations in Ammonia Oxidation on Platinum".[5] During her time in graduate school, Maria prepared X journal publications with her advisor:
M. Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, L.D. Schmidt, R. Caretta "Steady State and Transient Oscillations in NH3 Oxidation on Pt", Journal of Catalysis 64, 346–355, (1980).[6]
S. Wong, M. F. Stephanopoulos, M. Chen, T. E. Hutchinson, and L. D. Schmidt "Morphologies of Pt Catalyst Surfaces", Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology 14, 452, (1977).[7]
M. F. Stephanopoulos, S. Wong, and L. D. Schmidt "Surface Morphology of Pt Catalysts", Journal of Catalysis 49, 51, (1977).[8]
M. F. Stephanopoulos, L. D. Schmidt "Evaporation Rates and Surface Profiles on Heterogeneous Surfaces with Mass Transfer",
Chemical Engineering Science 34, 365, (1979).[9]
M. F. Stephanopoulos, L. D. Schmidt "Morphology and Etching Processes on Macroscopic Metal Catalysts", Progress in Surface Science 9, 83, (1979).[10]
Journal Publications
Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos authored more than 160 journal articles describing significant advances in
catalysis,
surface chemistry, and single-atom catalysts including:
Qi Fu, Howard Saltsburg, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Active nonmetallic Au and Pt species on ceria-based water-gas shift catalysts", Science, 301(5635), 935–938, (2003).[12]
Rui Si, Maria Flytzani‐Stephanopoulos "Shape and Crystal‐Plane Effects of Nanoscale Ceria on the Activity of Au‐CeO2 Catalysts for the Water–Gas Shift Reaction",
Angewandte Chemie, 120(15), 2926–2929, (2008).[13]
Yanping Zhai, Danny Pierre, Rui Si, Weiling Deng, Peter Ferrin, Anand U Nilekar, Guowen Peng, Jeffrey A Herron, David C Bell, Howard Saltsburg, Manos Mavrikakis, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift reactions", Science, 329(5999), 1633–1636, (2010).[14]
Ming Yang, Sha Li, Yuan Wang, Jeffrey A Herron, Ye Xu, Lawrence F Allard, Sungsik Lee, Jun Huang, Manos Mavrikakis, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos "Catalytically active Au-O (OH) x-species stabilized by alkali ions on zeolites and mesoporous oxides", Science, 346(6216), 1498–1501, (2014).[15]
Awards and honors
Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos's contributions to research, education and service received numerous awards, many of which highlighted her passion for catalysis and the problems associated with nanoparticle design and catalytic function. In 2008, she was elected a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).[16]
Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos of Tufts University's School of Engineering has been selected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of catalysis, particularly for new insights in oxidation reactions on nanoscale metal oxides in fuel conversion and pollutant processes.
^Flytzanistephanopoulos, M. (1980). "Steady State and Transient Oscillations in NH3 Oxidation on Pt". Journal of Catalysis. 64 (2): 346–355.
doi:
10.1016/0021-9517(80)90508-4.
^Flytzanistephanopoulos, M. (1977). "Surface Morphology of Pt Catalysts". Journal of Catalysis. 49: 51–82.
doi:
10.1016/0021-9517(77)90239-1.
^Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, M.; Schmidt, L.D. (1979). "Evaporation Rates and Surface Profiles on Heterogeneous Surfaces with Mass Transfer". Chemical Engineering Science. 34 (3): 365–372.
doi:
10.1016/0009-2509(79)85069-1.
^Si, Rui; Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Maria (2008). "Shape and Crystal-Plane Effects of Nanoscale Ceria on the Activity of Au-CeO2 Catalysts for the Water–Gas Shift Reaction". Angewandte Chemie. 120 (15): 2926–2929.
Bibcode:
2008AngCh.120.2926S.
doi:
10.1002/ange.200705828.
^Zhai, Y.; Pierre, D.; Si, R.; Deng, W.; Ferrin, P.; Nilekar, A. U.; Peng, G.; Herron, J. A.; Bell, D. C.; Saltsburg, H.; Mavrikakis, M.; Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, M. (2010). "Alkali-stabilized Pt-OHx species catalyze low-temperature water-gas shift reactions". Science. 329 (5999): 1633–1636.
doi:
10.1126/science.1192449.
PMID20929844.
S2CID20805322.