A chemical engineer by training, Dr. Kahn specializes in the areas of heterogeneous catalysis, material characterization, and electrochemistry. Dr. Kahn’s prior research in heterogeneous catalysis at the University of California, Los Angeles involved the high-throughput synthesis and reaction screening of novel catalysts for industrial chemical production, as well as the characterization of these catalysts using techniques such as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). He has employed analytical techniques such as gas chromatography (GC) and quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) to quantify the products of chemical reactions occurring on the surfaces of numerous inorganic catalyst materials.
Dr. Kahn was also involved with the development of novel catalyst preparation techniques such as high-throughput pulsed laser ablation to rapidly generate ceramic-supported metal nanoparticles, as well as parallelized gel combustion synthesis to produce mesoporous mixed metal oxides. As a graduate student researcher, he applied high-throughput and combinatorial catalysis techniques to propose new combustion catalyst formulations for the catalytic heater technology in use by CCI Thermal Technologies, Inc.
Concurrent with his doctoral studies, Dr. Kahn was awarded a fellowship from the NSF-IGERT program called the Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP), which included additional coursework and lab work involving recent topics in nanomaterial synthesis and characterization. During the training program, Dr. Kahn pursued an internship at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA where he undertook a research project involving the use of nanocrystalline silicon as a promising anode material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Dr. Kahn has experience in cell assembly and cyclic voltammetry.
While at UCLA, Dr. Kahn served as a teaching assistant for courses in fluid mechanics and quantum chemistry. His undergraduate coursework included semiconductor fabrication experience in a cleanroom environment.
Kahn M, et al. High throughput synthesis and screening of new catalytic materials for the direct epoxidation of propylene. Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening 2010; 13:67–74.
Onal I, Düzenli D, Seubsai A, Kahn M, Seker E, Senkan S. Propylene epoxidation: High throughput screening of supported metal catalysts combinatorially prepared by rapid sol-gel method. Topics in Catalysis 2010; 53(1–2):92–99.
Duan S, Kahn M, Senkan S. High-throughput nanoparticle catalysis: Partial oxidation of propylene. Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening 2007; 10(2):111–119.
Senkan S, Kahn M, Duan S, Ly A, Liedholm C. High-throughput metal nanoparticle catalysis by pulsed laser ablation. Catalysis Today 2006; 117:291–296.
Kahn M, Seubsai A, Onal I, Senkan S. New catalytic materials for the direct epoxidation of propylene by oxygen: Application of high-throughput pulsed laser ablation. Topics in Catalysis 2010; 53(1–2):86–91.
Presentations
Kahn M, Seubsai A, Senkan S. Rational synthesis, characterization, and reaction screening of alkali-modified hopcalite: Employing a total oxidation catalyst for a partial oxidation process. Oral presentation, AIChE Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 2009.
Kahn M, Senkan S. Modified hopcalite catalysts prepared via gel combustion synthesis for improving the direct synthesis of propylene oxide. Poster presentation, MCTP Symposium, California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, CA, November 2008.
Kahn M, West W. Nano-silicon as an anode for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Poster presentation, MCTP Symposium, California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, CA, November 2007.
Kahn M, Senkan S. High-throughput and combinatorial nanoparticle catalysis for the direct synthesis of propylene oxide. Oral presentation, MCTP Symposium, California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, CA, November 2007.
Kahn M., Krantz K, Senkan S. Nanostructured catalytic materials for NOx reduction using combinatorial methods. Oral presentation, US EPA STAR Nanotechnology Environmental Applications and GRO Progress Review Workshop, Arlington, VA, November 2006.
Kahn M, Senkan S. High-throughput metal nanoparticle catalysis by pulsed laser ablation. Oral presentation, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 2006.