Chemistry of Heterogeneous Catalysts

Contact Information

Address

Het Kranenveld 14
Helix
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
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Phone

+31402472078

Email

[email protected]

Organisational Structure

•
Materials for Electrochemistry, Catalysis and Separation
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  Catalysis
  - •
    Chemistry of Heterogeneous Catalysts
  - •
    Computational Heterogeneous Catalysis

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Profile

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW87038237 BCX0"> Our group works on heterogeneous catalysts for converting CO₂ and other small molecules into fuels and chemicals. In collaboration with experimental and computational colleagues at TU/e and other universities, we combine the design of new catalytic materials with methods that show how these catalysts actually work. Our current research follows three main lines. </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW87038237 BCX0"> Force-responsive catalysis. Confinement in small pores strongly affects catalytic activity and selectivity, but in rigid porous materials such as zeolites the pore geometry is fixed once the material is made. We work on flexible porous carbons, such as zeolite-templated carbons, whose pore size can be tuned at the sub-nanometre scale by mechanical force. This lets us change the confinement around the active sites within a single material, and study how pore geometry controls diffusion, adsorption and reactivity. We apply these materials to various catalytic reactions, test whether periodic compression and release can enhance catalytic performance, and use the same principle for new switchable adsorption and separation methods. </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW87038237 BCX0"> Operando spectrokinetics. A species that is clearly visible in a spectrum is not necessarily the one that forms the product. To separate real intermediates from spectators, we combine operando X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy with transient kinetic methods, in particular isotope labelling. In these studies, we quantify the number of surface sites and determine their structure. Together with this, we use in situ X-ray diffraction also follow how nanoparticle catalysts form during synthesis and activation, and how this determines their active sites. </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW87038237 BCX0"> Isotope fractionation for mechanistic analysis. Besides classical labelling and exchange experiments, we are developing compound-specific isotope ratio analysis at natural abundance. Small differences in the 13C/12C and 2H/1H ratio of individual products carry information about the pathway that formed them. This analysis can provide unique mechanistic insights into CO2 methanation, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and methanol synthesis. </div>