Senior Staff Scientist
A native of New Hampshire, Dr. Olivier received both his B. S. and M. S. degrees in physical chemistry from the University of New Hampshire. He finished his Ph.D. studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, N. Y., in 1958, majoring in Colloid Science under Dr. Sydney Ross. This was followed by two years of postdoctoral research at Rensselaer. With Ross, he co-authored several papers on the theory of physical adsorption as well as the book "On Physical Adsorption," published by Wiley-Interscience in 1964.
In 1978, after nearly twenty years in first the kaolin industry and later the paper and coatings industry, Dr. Olivier joined Micromeritics Instrument Corporation as Research Director for Particle Technology Instruments. He later became Vice President of Technology for Micromeritics with responsibility for the development, engineering, and quality control of particle technology instrumentation and software
In 1985, he became Chairman of Universal Microsystems, Inc., a software engineering and systems consulting firm that he co-founded. He remained a consultant to Micromeritics in the development of particle technology instrumentation and data reduction methods for gas adsorption. Dr. Olivier rejoined Micromeritics in 1990 as Senior Staff Scientist
Dr. Olivier holds over sixteen significant patents in minerals beneficiation and particle measurement techniques by sedimentation and light scattering including the pioneering SediGraph® particle size analyzer and Saturn Digisizer®. He has published extensively on topics in physical adsorption, as well as colloidal dispersions and electrokinetic effects, and particle size and shape relationships.
A Partial List of Archival Publications
J. P. Olivier and Sydney Ross
Physical Adsorption. XI. Preliminary characterization of solid surfaces from adsorption isotherms.
Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Surface Activity, London, 1957
, 2, p46-53.
Sydney Ross and J. P. Olivier
A new method for the determination of critical micelle concentrations of un-ionized association colloids in aqueous or in nonaqueous solution.
J. Phys. Chem.
63, 1671(1959).
Sydney Ross and J. P. Olivier
Physical Adsorption. XII. The adsorption isotherm and the adsorptive energy distribution of solids.
J. Phys. Chem.
65
, 608(1961).
James P. Olivier
Dissertation: The adsorption isotherm and the adsorptive energy distribution of solids
Univ. Microfilms
, Mic60-2691. Dissertation Abstr.
21
, 3648(1961).
Sydney Ross and J. P. Olivier
Evidence for electronic interaction between iodine and a solid surface.
J. Phys. Chem.
65
, 1664(1961).
Sydney Ross and J. P. Olivier
Physical Adsorption. XIII. The adsorption potentials and vibrations of inert gases on graphite.
Advances in Chemistry Series
(Robert F. Gould, editor, American Chem. Soc.) 1961, 301.
Sydney Ross and J. P. Olivier
Physical Adsorption. XIV. The nature of the adsorptive forces between the inert gases and a graphite surface.
Advances in Chemistry Series
(Robert F. Gould, editor, American Chem. Soc.) 1961,309.
Sydney Ross, J. P. Olivier and J. J. Hinchen
Physical Adsorption. XV. Evidence of marked asymmetry in the distribution of adsorptive potentials of certain solid surfaces.
Advances in Chemistry Series
(Robert F. Gould, editor, American Chem. Soc.) 1961, 317.
James P. Olivier and S. Ross
Physical Adsorption. XVI. The physical interaction of H2, D2, CH4 and CD4 with graphite.
Proceedings of the Royal Society (
London
)
A 265
, 447(1962).
Sydney Ross, J. K. Saelens and J. P. Olivier
Physical Adsorption. XVIII. Limiting isosteric heats of adsorption of gases on graphitized carbon by the chromatographic method.
J. Phys. Chem.
66
, 696(1962).
Sydney Ross and James P. Olivier
On Physical Adsorption
,
(Interscience/Wiley, New York, 1964) 401 pp.
Paul Sennett and J. P. Olivier
Colloidal Dispersions, Electrokinetic Effects, and the Concept of Zeta Potential.
Ind.
Eng.
Chem.
57
(8), 32(1965)
James P. Olivier and P. Sennett
Electrokinetic effects in kaolin-water systems. I. Measurement of electrophoretic mobility.
Clays and Clay Minerals, 15
, 345(1967).
Paul Sennett, J. P. Olivier and H. H. Morris
Electrokinetic effects in paper coating colors.
Tappi,
52
, 1153(1969).
James P. Olivier, G. K. Hicken and C. Orr
Rapid automatic particle size analysis in the subsieve range.
Powder Technology
4
, 257(1971)
James P. Olivier and P. Sennett
Particle size-shape relationships in
Georgia
sedimentary kaolins.
Clays and Clay Minerals, 21
, 403(1971).
Paul Sennett, J. P. Olivier and G. K. Hicken
Application of rapid, automatic particle size analysis to the paper industry.
Tappi
, 57, 92(1974).
James P. Olivier and C. E. Brown
Measurement of particle size distribution of polymer latexes using an integrated hydrodynamic chromatograph.
Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, 1981, V181, Mar., P31-
MACR
.
Anthony W. Thornton, J. P. Olivier, C. G. Smart and L. B. Gilman
Particle size distribution analysis of colloidal latices using hydrodynamic chromatography.
ACS
Symposium Series
332
, 256(1987)
Paul A. Webb, J. P. Olivier and W. B. Conklin
A model of the physical adsorption isotherm.
American Laboratory
26, 38(1994).
James P. Olivier, W. B. Conklin and M. von Szombathely
Determination of pore size distribution from density functional theory: A comparison of nitrogen and argon results.
Characterization of Porous Solids
III
(COPS
III
,
1993) in Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 87, Elsevier,1994, p81
James P. Olivier
Comparison of density functional theory with experimental isotherms on a nonporous graphite.
Proceedings of International Conference on Carbon
, Carbon '94,
Grenada
,
Spain
(1994)
James P. Olivier
Modeling physical adsorption on porous and nonporous solids using density functional theory.
Journal of Porous Materials
2
, 9(1995).
Jerzy Choma, M. Jaroniec and J. P. Olivier
Porownawcze badania adsorpcyjnych metod wyznaczania funkcji rozkladu porow wegli aktywnych
.
Published in: Przem. Chem. (Chemical Industry) (1995).
James P. Olivier
The determination of surface energetic heterogeneity using model isotherms calculated by density functional theory.
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Fundamentals of Adsorption, (
M. D. LeVan, ed.), Kluwer Academic Press,
London
,(1995).
James P. Olivier
An investigation of the reliability of adsorption measurements in the ultra low pressure region.
Proceedings of 22nd Biennial Conference on Carbon
, Carbon '95,
San Diego
,
CA
(1995)
James P. Olivier
Some effects of analysis conditions on the observed adsorption isotherms of nitrogen and argon on a microporous carbon and its derived micropore distribution.
Proceedings of International Conference on Carbon
, Carbon '96,
Newcastle
,
UK
(1996)
James P. Olivier
Calculating the size distribution of pore volume and area from adsorption isotherms:
a comparison of classical and density functional methods.
A presentation at Coal Structure ‘96,
Zakopane
,
Poland
, 1996
James P. Olivier
Improved models for calculating the size distribution of micropore volume from adsorption data.
Proceedings of 23nd Biennial Conference on Carbon
, Carbon '97,
Pennsylvania
State College
,
PA
(1997)
Mietek Jaroniec, J. P. Olivier
Fractal analysis of composite adsorption isotherms obtained by using density functional theory data for argon in slitlike pores.
Langmuir;
1997
; 13(5); 1031-1035.
M. W. Maddox, J. P. Olivier, and K. E. Gubbins
Characterization of
MCM
-41 using molecular simulation: Heterogeneity effects.
Langmuir
; 1997; 13(6); 1737-1745.
James P. Olivier
Comparison of the experimental isosteric heats of adsorption of argon on non-porous carbons with density functional theory calculations.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Carbon
, Eurocarbon '98,
Strasbourg
France
, (1998)
James P. Olivier
Improving the models used for calculating the size distribution of
micropore volume
of activated carbons from adsorption data.
Carbon
, Vol. 36, 10, 1998, 1469-1472.
James. P. Olivier
Possible origins for high adsorptive potential regions for nitrogen adsorbed on oxide surfaces.
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Fundamentals of Adsorption
, Presqu’ile de
Giens
,
France
,1998 (M. D. LeVan, ed.), Kluwer Academic press,
Boston
, 1999, p.699.
James P. Olivier
Thermodynamic properties of confined fluids:
I.
Experimental measurements of krypton adsorbed by mesoporous silica from 80K to 130K.
2nd
Pacific
Basin
Conference on Physical Adsorption 1999,
Brisbane
,
Australia
James P. Olivier
Comparison of the experimental isosteric heat of adsorption of argon on mesoporous silica with density functional theory calculations.
Fifth International Symposium on the Characterization of Porous Solids
, COPS V, Heidelburg, 1999, In Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 128, (K. K. Unger et al., Eds.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2000
M. Jaroniec, M. Kruk, J. P. Olivier and S. Koch
A new method for the accurate pore size analysis of
MCM
-41 and other silica based mesoporous materials.
Fifth InternationalSymposium on the Characterization of Porous Solids, COPS V, Heidelburg, 1999, in Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 128 (K. K. Unger et al., Eds.), Elsevier,
Amsterdam
, 2000, p. 71.
James P. Olivier, Mietec Jaroniec, Michal Kruk
Standard nitrogen adsorption data for characterization of nanoporous silicas.
Langmuir
1999, 15(16), 5410-5413.
James. P. Olivier
Characterization of energetically heterogeneous surfaces from experimental adsorption isotherms
in Surfaces of Nanoparticles and Porous Materials, (J. A. Schwartz and C. I. Contescu, eds), Marcel Dekker, Inc.,
New York
, 1999, p. 295.
James P. Olivier and Mario L. Occelli.
Surface area and microporosity of a pillared interlayered clay (PILC) from a hybrid density functional theory (DFT) method.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
; 2001, 105(3), 623-629.
M. L. Occelli, J. P. Olivier, A. Aroux and S. A. C. Gould
The effects of coke deposition in fluid cracking catalysts (FCCs) during gas oil cracking at microactivity test (
MAT
) conditions.
Journal of Catalysis
, 2001, 209, 385 - 393
M. L. Occelli, J. P. Olivier, J. A. Perdigon-Melon, and A. Auroux
Surface area, pore volume distribution, and acidity in mesoporous expanded clay catalysts from hybrid density functional theory (DFT) and adsorption microcalorimetry methods.
Langmuir
2002, 18, 9816-9823
James P. Olivier
The importance of surface heterogeneity in developing characterization methods.
In 6th International Symposium on the Characterization Of Porous Solids, Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis 144, Elsevier, 2002.
James P. Olivier and Mario L. Occelli
Surface area and microporosity of pillared rectorite catalysts from a hybrid density functional theory method.
Microporous and Mesoporous Materials
2003, 57, 291-296
Mario L. Occelli, James P. Olivier, Alice Petre, and Aline Auroux
Determination of pore size distribution, surface area, and acidity in fluid cracking catalysts (FCCs) from nonlocal density functional theoretical models of adsorption and from microcalorimetry methods.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B
2003
, 107, 17, 4128-4136
M. Occelli, J. P. Olivier, F. Baldiraghi, and A. Auroux
Dual function fluid cracking catalyst (DFCC) with olefin selectivity.
Proc. 6th Int. Congress on Advances in FCCs,
226th
ACS
National Meeting,
New York
,
NY
,
September 7-11, 2003
. (Accepted)
James P. Olivier
An overview of physical adsorption methods for the characterization of finely divided and porous materials and
their application to fluid cracking catalysts.
Plenary lecture, Proc. 6th Int. Congress on Advances in FCCs,
226th
ACS
National Meeting,
New York
,
NY
,
September 7-11, 2003
.
M. L. Occelli, J. P. Olivier, A. Auroux, M. Kalwei, and H. Eckert
Porosity and basic properties of a mesoporous solid obtained from the calcination of an hydrotalcite-like material.
Chemical Materials
, (Submitted)
J. P. Olivier and M. L. Occelli
Porosity and pore size distributions in hydrotreating catalyst metal supports from adsorption data and density functional theory (DFT) methods.
Applied Catalysis
, (In preparation)
Basic Patents:
U. S. 3,208,919 Method and means for measuring electrokinetic potential
U. S. 3,432,030 Cleaning aqueous clay slurries by extracting discoloring minerals with an organic liquid
U. S.
3,439,801 Washing aqueous slips of fine milled clay with an organic liquid to improve brightness
U. S. 3,446,348 Treating clay
U. S. 3,449,567 Apparatus and process for determining particle size by x-ray absorption analysis
U. S. 3,621,243 Apparatus and process for determining particle size by x-ray absorption analysis
E. P. 314467 X-ray particle size analyzer
U. S. 3,659,708 Separation of discolorants from clay
U. S.
3,660,134 Inorganic materials surface reacted with organo titanium compounds
DE 2,051,924 Inorganic organotitanate compositions
U. S. 3,737,332 Closed-cell clay foam
U. S.
4,356,727 Continuous volume measuring device
U. S. 4,920,550 X-ray particle size analyzer
U. S. 5,247,558 X-ray particle size analyzer
U. S. 5,576,827 Apparatus and method for particle size measurement by light scattering
U. S. 5,849,064 System and method for evenly suspending and circulating particles in a liquid.
U.S.
6,091,492 Apparatus and method for determining the size distribution of particles by light scattering.