Welcome to our site!
Our group focuses on the synthesis, characterisation and performance of supported catalysts. These allow efficient chemical conversions (and hence decrease the use of energy and raw materials), but are also essential to allow the transformation from fossil to renewable fuels. With fundamental research we unravel structure-performance relationships, but we also investigate large scale existing industrial processes (methanol synthesis, Fischer Tropsch synthesis, hydroisomerisation, ammonia synthesis, epoxidation and other selective hydrogenation and oxidation reactions in both gas and liquid phase).
We are also very active in the field of energy materials: for instance to produce electrocatalytically fuels from CO2 and H2, reversible hydrogen storage, and next generation battery materials. We lead the materials research line in RELEASE, the national consortium to enable large scale reversible energy storage. Another stronghold is the characterisation of these complex materials with advanced (in-situ and operando) spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, most notably advanced X-Ray absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
An overview of our research can be found on our research page.
Students welcome!
Students are welcome to check out available research projects here! We have BSc, MSc, and review projects available for students interested in energy materials and catalysis.
Latest News
(More news can be found on our news page and a list of PhD defences can be found on the group defences page.)
25th Netherlands’ Cataysis and Chemistry Conference
During the week of March 4th, the 25th Netherlands’ Catalysis and Chemistry Conference took place in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands. This festive special edition was organized by a committee from Utrecht University with prof. Petra de Jongh (MCC) as chairwoman and prof. Pieter Bruijnincx (OCC) as vice-chairman. For this quarter-century milestone, the committee also invited emeriti who were part of the first NCCC organizing committee. More can be read on the website of C2W.
Dr. Nong Artrith wins Sebastian Haben award for Open Science!
Dr. Nong Artrith, assistant professor at the Materials Chemistry and Catalysis group of the Debye Institute, received the first Sebastian Haben award. The other winner was PhD candidate in Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Douwe Schulte. Nong’s nomination stood out because her career encompasses a combination of open software, open data and open education. She developed Atomic Energy Network (ænet), an open-source software for the use of machine learning models in materials science. This software is also used by the PhD candidates in the MCC group for their research into novel energy materials. She publishes her datasets alongside the manuscripts on Materials Cloud. Finally, she is committed to open education and has posted several lectures and tutorials online with the relevant materials. The jury was impressed by her inspiring efforts in both open science and education.
Prof. Petra de Jongh wins Gilles Holst Medal!
(November 2023)
Full article: Dutch, English.
Our group leader prof. Petra de Jongh has received the Gilles Holst Medal, in recognition of her contributions to science towards the sustainable energy transition. The jury praised her specifically on: “[…] her interdisciplinary approach [to research], her tireless quest for knowledge, and the industrial applications that emerge from her research on nanomaterials.” Prof. Petra de Jongh is the first woman to receive this medal since its establishment in 1960. We congratulate Petra for winning this prestigious medal!
Petra de Jongh researches the connection between catalyst structure and performance with advanced characterization methods. Through collaborative efforts with industry, her investigations contribute to the advancement of novel processes like sustainable methanol, hydrocarbon, or ammonia synthesis—which are crucial for achieving a circular economy. Additionally, Petra and her team are pioneering the creation of next-generation batteries, aiming for enhanced safety, reduced weight, and increased efficiency. These advancements play a pivotal role in facilitating a sustainable transition towards cleaner energy sources.
In the week of 8-12 October, PhD students Maaike Vink-van Ittersum and Henrik Rodenburg travelled to Gothenburg, Sweden, together with dr. Peter Ngene to present at the 244th Electrochemical Society Meeting.
For her MSc thesis, titled ‘Morphological Considerations in Templated Porous Ag Catalysts for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction‘, Karen van de Akker received the second price for the GSNS Thesis Award for her thesis research, based on her research at MCC under supervision of Maaike van Ittersum. (September 2023)
On September 8th, we had our annual “labuitje”! We went canoeing in the morning and paid a visit to Fort Rhijnauwen in the afternoon.
Prof. dr. Philipp Adelhelm paid a visit to the Debye Institute on September 7th. He gave a wonderful lecture about Na-ion Batteries: Energy Storage Based on Abundant Elements, preceded by a visit to MCC and a poster session by the Debye PhD Committee. Prof. Adelhelm’s group studies materials for energy storage, focusing on electrode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries as well as on alternative cell concepts, like metal-sulfur and solid-state batteries.
Prof. dr. Petra De Jongh, dr. Jessi van der Hoeven, Suzan Schoemaker, Oscar Brandt Corstius, and Maaike van Ittersum visited Prague, Czech Republic, to present lectures at the EuropaCat congress in August.
On the 20th of August, several of our PIs and PhDs travelled to The Hague to present at IUPAC | CHAINS 2023. Dr. Peter Ngene presented about Interface engineered metal hydrides as multi-functional energy materials. In another parallel session, dr. Nongnuch Artrith discussed Atomistic Modeling Unveiling Complex Glassy-Ceramic Battery Structures. PhD candidate Oscar Brandt Corstius presented his results of Bimetallic Pd-based catalysts for selective hydrogenation of butadiene, and Henrik Rodenburg presented his work on Mixed hydride-electronic conductivity in Rb2CaH4 and Cs2CaH4. To find out more about these respective projects, visit our research page.
The BatteryNL consortium, in which Petra de Jongh and Peter Ngene lead the research line on improving batteries via interface design strategies, started on 12 January 2023. We look forward to contributing to the development of safer and more energy dense lithium-based batteries to meet the world’s need for electric energy storage.
For her MSc thesis, written based on her work in the MCC group with Nienke Visser, Juliette Verschoor was awarded the second prize of the Nederlandse Gasindustrieprijzen 2022. The jury was impressed by the wide variety of experiments she employed in her work to improve the life span of carbon-supported nickel catalysts for the conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane (‘synthetic natural gas’). (November 2022)
At the Solid State Ionics conference (SSI-23) in Boston, USA, four MCC members had the opportunity to present their work. Valerio, Laura de Kort, Peter and Henrik shared their work on solid-state electrolytes and batteries. They also got to see the city, including MIT and Harvard, to both of which they were invited for a short visit. (July 2022)
Nanoscientists from Utrecht University have devised a new and promising way to make catalysts in which the amount of precious metals needed is reduced by a factor of 10. Those precious metals are scarce, but essential in many existing and future, more sustainable chemical processes. The publication appeared on 8 July 2022 in the renowned scientific journal Science. Article | Press release
Materials Chemistry and Catalysis 