Led by Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens (UCL), with Research Fellow, Dr Nidhi Kapil
A major sustainability challenge in chemical manufacturing: the greener production of propylene oxide (PO).
Current industrial routes are waste-intensive or costly, whereas the direct hydroperoxidation of propylene using H₂ and O₂ (HOPO) over Au/TS-1 catalysts offers a cleaner alternative. Building on a recent tenfold improvement in catalyst durability, the project will engineer Au–Cu bimetallic nanoparticles supported on hierarchical TS-1 (H-TS-1) zeolites to enhance selectivity, hydrogen efficiency and long-term stability. By combining controlled nanoparticle synthesis, hierarchical support design and precise tuning of Au–Cu interactions, the team aims to reach ambitious industrial benchmarks for conversion, selectivity and efficiency.
A defining feature of the project is its multiscale integration of nanoengineering and advanced characterisation with reactor engineering. Structural and electronic properties of the catalysts will be interrogated using XPS, TEM, XRD, and in situ and operando XAS (EXAFS/XANES), surface IR spectroscopy, and neutron scattering, in close collaboration with Professor Chris Hardacre (University of Manchester), a leader in operando studies. Industrial relevance is embedded through collaboration with SABIC, ensuring benchmarking against state-of-the-art reactor conditions and scalability considerations. Crossing the Sustainability and Advanced Characterisation themes, this technically strong and clearly structured programme exemplifies the Hub’s ethos: coupling fundamental mechanistic insight with industrially aligned catalyst design to enable cleaner, more efficient chemical manufacture.
