- 3032 North Engineering Research Center
- Phone (205) 348-6981
Dr. Daniyal Kiani
Assistant Professor
Contact
- 3032 North Engineering Research Center
- phone (205) 348-6981
Research Areas
Education
- B.S., Chemistry, Georgetown University, 2017
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University, 2021
Dr. Kiani’s research focuses on the synthesis, molecular characterization, and kinetics of heterogeneous catalysts, with particular emphasis on bulk and supported metal oxides. His work uses in situ and operando spectroscopies, including Raman, DRIFTS, UV-Vis, and XAS, to establish structure–function relationships in catalytic materials and guide the next generation of these materials.
For his Ph.D., Dr. Kiani studied Na- and Mn-promoted tungsten oxide catalysts for the oxidative coupling of methane to ethylene. He subsequently spent two years at Cummins Emission Solutions as a Technical Specialist, leading R&D efforts on aftertreatment systems for diesel and hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. From 2023–2026, he was a Director’s Fellow Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, where his research spanned ethylene dimerization over heterogenized transition-metal complexes, bio-based lactone production over Cu–Ca mixed-metal oxides, and selective C–C bond cleavage of polyolefin waste.
Dr. Kiani joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Alabama as an Assistant Professor in August 2026.
Affiliated Areas
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Selected Publications
- Kiani, D.; Bozkurt, O. et al. Metal oxide-promoted calcium cuprate catalysts for diol oxidative dehydrocyclization to lactones. Chem Catalysis, 101777, (2026)
- Kiani, D.; Rosetto, G. et al. Solventless, ambient-pressure production of bio-based lactones over earth-abundant mixed metal oxide catalysts. Nature Communications, 17, 2804 (2026)
- Kiani, D.; Eaglesfield, et al. Production of bio-based lactones as monomers for a circular polymer economy. Nature Reviews Chemistry, 9, 749–765 (2025)
- Kiani, D.; Wachs, I. E. The conundrum of “pair sites” in Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism in heterogeneous catalysis, ACS Catalysis, 14,10260–10270 (2024)
- Kiani, D.; Sourav, S.; Baltrusaitis, J.; Wachs, I. E., Elucidating the effects of Mn-promotion on SiO2-supported, Na-promoted tungsten oxide catalysts for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), ACS Catalysis, 11, 10131−10137 (2021)