Catalysis, reaction engineering, new adsorbent and catalytic materials, winemaking 

Runnebaum seeks to improve processes for more sustainable use of natural resources, including those important in the agricultural, chemical and fuel industries. The processes he and his team develop involve creating and using solid materials that can be regenerated and reused as desirable products while reducing the formation of undesirable (waste, or less valuable) products. He uses synthesis and characterization by a variety of techniques, including tests under working conditions, to reveal fundamental structure-activity relationships in these materials. Understanding these relationships will allow the design of new materials and processes for adsorptives and catalysts.