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Research Interests

Professor Wornat is conducting research in the pyrolysis and combustion of solid fuels, liquid fuels, and related model compounds--with particular emphasis on the chemical and physical mechanisms governing the formation of environmental pollutants. Specific aspects include: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot; gas-phase and heterogeneous reactions; chemistry of aromatic compounds; analytical techniques for the compositional determination of complex organic mixtures; supercritical fuel reactions; health effects of combustion by-products.

Selected Publications

• Bagley, S. P., and Wornat, M. J., "Identification of Five- to Seven-Ring Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Supercritical Pyrolysis of n-Decane," Energy & Fuels, in press (2011).
  
  
• Poddar, N. B., Thomas, S., and Wornat, M. J., "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Co-Pyrolysis of Catechol and Propyne," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 33: 541-548 (2011).
  
  
• Ehrenhauser, F. S., and Wornat, M. J., "Clar Reaction of 7H-Benz[de]anthracen-7-one:  Isolation and Identification of Tetrabenzo[a,cd,lm,o]perylene," Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 31: 123-142 (2011).
  
  
• Walker, M. S., and Wornat, M. J., "First Identification of
  Benzo[cd]phenanthro[1,2,3-lm]perylene by High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry," Journal of Chromatography A 1217: 4568-4574 (2010).
  
  
• Ehrenhauser, F. S., Wornat, M. J., Valsaraj, K. T., and Rodriguez, P. "Design and Evaluation of Dopant Delivery System for an Orthogonal Atmospheric-Pressure Photoionization Source and its Performance in the Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons," Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 24: 1351-1357 (2010).
  
  
• Thomas, S., and Wornat, M. J., "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Co-Pyrolysis of Catechol and 1,3-Butadiene," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 32: 615-622 (2009).
  
  
• Thomas, S., and Wornat, M. J., "C₂₄H₁₄ Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from the Pyrolysis of Catechol," International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry 88:825-840 (2008).

Principal Research Efforts

• Mechanisms of PAH Formation from Aromatic Fuels
  
  
• Soot-Associated PAH from Chinese Homes with High Incidence Rates of Cancer
  
  
• Pyrolysis of Model Compounds Representing Entities of Coal and Biomass
  
  
• Supercritical Pyrolysis of Fuels for Hypersonic Aircraft
  
  
• Spectroscopy of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
  
  
• Photochemical Reactions of PAH at the Air/Water Interface
  
  
• Combustion-Generated Nanoparticles: The Role of Transition Metals in PAH Formation and Growth

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