Prof. Dr. Bert M. Weckhuysen; Utrecht University
When: Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, 5:15 pm
Where: TUM Department of Chemistry, Emil-Erlenmeyer lecture hall CH 26411
Abstract
As we enter the era of catalytic activation of small molecules, such as CO2, CO, N2 and H2O, to realize the refinery of the future one of the main questions to answer for scientists involve the coupling of carbon fragments, originating from CO2, either produced at point sources, or harvested from direct air capture units. The overall goal is to manufacture increasingly complex (and thus value-added) carbon-containing molecules from CO2 or via its intermediates CO and CH3OH instead of making them from crude oil fractions. This requires a profound knowledge of the processes taking place at the catalytic surface of both thermo- and electrocatalytic activation processes of CO2, was well as of the subsequent chemical conversion processes in which carbon monoxide (Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, FTS), methane (either as waste methane, or biomethane, via selective C-H activation) and methanol (methanol-to-hydrocarbons process, MTH) are used. This is the topic of this lecture, in which we discuss the latest progress made in our group in understanding CO2 activation over nickel (thermocatalytic conversion) and copper (electrocatalytic conversion), as well as the conversion of CO/CO2 over cobalt (FTS), the selective conversion of CH4 over lanthanides and CH3OH over zeolites (MTH). Special emphasis is on the use of in-situ and operando characterization methods to elucidate reaction and deactivation mechanisms. The talk will end with some vistas on the catalytic depolymerization of municipal waste, including plastic waste as well as biomass, as these are also relatively new carbon sources for the refinery of the future, as both chemical bond breaking and making are essential.
Biography
Bert Weckhuysen, a Distinguished University Professor at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), received his Master and PhD degrees from Leuven University (Belgium) in 1991 and 1995. He has worked as a postdoc at Lehigh University (USA) and Texas A&M University (USA). He has (co-) authored more than 700 scientific journal publications and has received many awards, including the Royal Dutch Chemical Society Gold Medal, Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Award, Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis, International Catalysis Award, Bourke Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, Spinoza Award from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Tanabe Prize in Acid-Base Catalysis, and most recently the Chemistry Europe Award. He is a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and an elected member of a.o. the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts, and European Academy of Sciences.