The increased interest in electrochemical energy-storage/conversion systems such as metal-air batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers arising from the interest in electrification of energy supply and distribution has motivated many studies of oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR and OER) and CO2 reduction (CO2RR) oxide electrocatalysts. The development of more efficient…
The Guerbet reaction is over a hundred years’ old but is finding renewed interest as a method to upgrade bio aclcohols into advanced fuel molecules. In this talk, two new directions will be described. Firstly, the design of mixed P-N ligand ruthenium complexes which are able to switch selectivity between fuel-relevent butanol…
Controlling catalyst selectivity is a key criterion for the successful transition to a post-fossil, sustainable chemical industry. Beyond the tuning of catalytic sites, confinement in a pore or cavity of molecular dimensions is one approach to the selectivity challenge. Confinement may offer geometric and electronic stabilization of critical intermediates and…
The annual production of hydrogen is over 90 million tonnes, with > 96% generated from fossil fuels (mostly by steam methane reformation of natural gas) releasing large quantities of CO2 as a by-product. Electrochemical water splitting technologies offer an important alternate platform to produce clean and sustainable hydrogen from surplus renewable energy. Central…
Experimental kinetic studies deal with complex reaction networks, whereas computational studies can provide energy barriers, reaction energies and pre-exponentials for individual reaction and adsorption steps. If made with sufficient, i.e. chemical, accuracy, computational predictions are very useful to check critical steps in microkinetic models. This we demonstrate for hydrocarbon activation by acidic…
The annual production of hydrogen is over 90 million tonnes, with > 96% generated from fossil fuels (mostly by steam methane reformation of natural gas) releasing large quantities of CO2 as a by-product. Electrochemical water splitting technologies offer an important alternate platform to produce clean and sustainable hydrogen from surplus renewable energy. Central…
The use of supported Pd nanoparticles is ubiquitous in hydrogenation chemistry. From synthetic organic transformations towards high-value products in the pharmaceutical or fragrance industries to crude biomass processing towards commodity chemicals such as monomers often the first choice of catalyst is Pd/C. In this talk, I will highlight two of…
Transformative innovations in the science and technology of personalized medicine, energy storage, and clean growth start from achieving atomic and molecular understanding, and then control, of the fundamental (bio)-chemical interactions that determine each process. To generate the required level of understanding and control, the UK is currently investing in the…
The development of operando spectroscopic methods and controlled catalyst preparation are both essential tools in understanding the complex properties of catalysts. Heterogeneous catalysts, for example supported metal nanoparticles, are exceedingly dynamic and although unconsumed by the process of catalysis they adapt to the evolving chemical environment. Elsewhere, the chemical steps involved within…
In this work, methanol-to-hydrocarbons, biomass-upgrading reactions and plastic conversion are studied over zeolite catalysts, using vibrational spectroscopy to give mechanistic insight. Raman Spectroscopy can identify carbonaceous surface species during catalysis, though in many cases strong emission from the laser interacting with the sample causes intense fluorescence which prevents collection of…
