Kanako Okada

Ph.D. Pre-Candidate
Chemical Engineering

kanadian@umich.edu

The Food and Drug Administration has mandated the labeling of the trans-fatty acid (TFA) content of foods since 2006 due to epidemiological studies that have linked TFA content with increased risk of coronary heart disease. TFAs are a result of hydrogenation, which transforms oil to a more stable and suitable texture for consumer products, such as margarine, shortening, heavy-duty frying fat, and other food products. Thus, there is substantial interest in alternative technologies to reduce the TFA content generated during oil hydrogenation.

My current project, electrocatalytic oil hydrogenation, is an alternative process, in which protons and electrons are generated on the catalyst surface at the anode and then transported protons react with unsaturated fatty acids at the cathode. The objective of this work is to develop a suitable catalyst to provide better selectivity and lower TFA content for the oil hydrogenation process. To fully exploit the promise of this novel process, it is also important to clarify the electrochemical hydrogenation and isomerization mechanisms.

We propose to explore the use of early transition metal carbide based catalysts for the electrochemical hydrogenation of vegetable oils because these materials have been demonstrated catalytic properties that resemble those of platinum group metals. My current work includes synthesizing carbide and nitride catalysts, characterizing these materials, preparing membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), operating the hydrogenation reactor, and analyzing oil products to evaluate the performance of these catalysts.

Electrochemical Oil Hydrogenation Reactor