Charles E. Lyman Research
Dr. Lyman received his BS from Cornell and his PhD from MIT, both in materials science. After a post-doctoral position at the University of Oxford, he held faculty and research positions at RPI and DuPont, respectively. Dr. Lyman joined the Electron Optical Laboratory of Lehigh University in 1984. Dr. Lyman's research interests include electron microscopy and microanalysis of metals, ceramics, and heterogeneous catalysts. He and his students have found structure-property relationships of supported alloy catalysts, particularly the microstructure of Pt-Rh catalysts that optimize the activity of reactions for the low-temperature reduction of nitric oxide. Other research has included work on aluminum alloys, stainless steels, transition metal oxides, and carbon fibers.
Composition-size diagram for two different alloy catalysts after similar heat treatments. Diagrams such as this are used as fingerprints of specific catalyst microstructures. The Pt-Re catalyst is used in petroleum product reforming, and the Pt-Rh catalyst is used for NOx abatement.