History
Discovery
The technology behind Oxford Catalysts is the result of nearly two decades of research led by renowned chemist Professor Malcolm Green from the University of Oxford's prestigious Wolfson Catalysis Centre, whose work has been commercially focused and funded by large multinational oil, gas and chemical companies.
How did it all begin? Nearly 40 years after the first report of the catalytic partial oxidation of methane, Professor Green generated a record-breaking 97% yield of hydrogen gas and 96% of carbon monoxide (together known as syngas) using a ruthenium-based catalyst. In 1990, he published this ground-breaking discovery in 'Nature'.
But Professor Green's real discoveries were just beginning. During the catalytic reaction he observed a thin layer of carbon on the ruthenium in the form of metal carbide, which turned out to be central to the catalytic process. In 1995, Professor Green made a leap forward with a cheaper, non-precious metal, molybdenum carbide catalyst, which gave the same yield as ruthenium, but was relatively slow to convert the methane. Nonetheless, this significant advance opened the door to further discoveries that would emerge from the Wolfson Catalysis Centre in the years to follow.
Evolution
Enter Dr Tiancun Xiao, who joined Professor Green's team in 1999. Dr Xiao discovered a cheap cobalt carbide catalyst that achieved the same yield as the original, expensive ruthenium and was just as fast. Extending this know-how, Dr Xiao and Professor Green later developed other cheap metal carbide catalysts that proved excellent for a variety of additional important hydrocarbon reactions and for hydro-desulphurisation, the removal of sulphur from fuel.
Breakthrough
Late in 2003, Dr Xiao made another breakthrough discovery of a catalyst that produced hydrogen from methanol and hydrogen peroxide instantaneously starting from room temperature, launching a second technology platform. A variation of this catalyst and liquid "fuel" produced yet another form of clean energy – hydrogen gas.
Commercialisation
As a result of these exciting discoveries, Oxford Catalysts would soon emerge:
August 2001: Professor Green and Dr Xiao received £124,500 from the University College Seed Fund to start the commercialisation of their research.
October 2004: Oxford Catalysts was incorporated.
December 2004: Dr Xiao received £23,500 from University of Oxford's proof-of-concept fund to help demonstrate his process of producing hydrogen gas from methanol.
March 2005: Saudi Aramco committed $420,000 to the Wolfson Catalysis Centre for Dr Xiao and Professor Green to research the removal of sulphur from diesel.
April 2005: University of Oxford won a Carbon Trust Innovation Award for Dr Xiao's work on the conversion of waste methane (biogas) into liquid fuels.
December 2005: Oxford Catalysts raised £500,000 from a group of investors led by IP Group plc, the university IP commercialisation specialists.
April 2006: Oxford Catalysts raised £15 million through its successful IPO on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange to further fund the commercialisation of its technology. Both the academic founders and the University of Oxford retain significant shareholdings in Oxford Catalysts.
