Materials Chemistry and Catalysis

Cu-mixed metal oxides for CO₂ to methanol conversion

Due to the ongoing combustion of fossil fuels, the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere has risen substantially [1]. This has led to severe environmental problems, including climate change and global warming. A promising strategy to mitigate these effects is to capture CO₂ and convert it into value-added chemicals, such as methanol. Methanol is an important chemical building block in various industrial processes and can be used as fuel [2].

In industry, methanol is typically formed from (mixed) syngas using a Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst [2]. This material is, however, less suitable for CO₂ hydrogenation. Hence, my research aims to develop a novel catalyst for the CO₂-to-methanol reaction. This catalyst is based on Cu interacting with mixed-cation oxides that contains oxygen vacancies – possible sites for CO₂ adsorption and activation [3]. We seek to understand structure-performance relationships based on Cu interacting with these oxygen vacancies by modifying catalyst composition, stoichiometry, and morphology. Key characterization techniques include XRD, EM, TPD/TPR, and spectroscopy.

References

[1] IPCC, 2023: Summary for Policymakers.

[2] Bowker, Michael. “Methanol synthesis from CO₂ hydrogenation.” ChemCatChem 11.17       (2019): 4238-4246.

[3] Wang, Jianyang, et al. “CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol over In₂O₃-based catalysts: from mechanism to catalyst development.” ACS Catalysis 11.3 (2021): 1406-1423.

C.V.

2024 – present

PhD candidate in Materials Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Topic: Cu interacting with mixed metal oxides for CO₂ to methanol conversion.

2021 – 2023

Master Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Thesis on “ The influence of Pd-Ni/SBA-15 nanoparticle composition on selective hydrogenation reactions” under supervision of Kristiaan Helfferich, MSc and Prof. Dr. Petra de Jongh.

Research internship on catalyst stability in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to formate at Avantium B.V..

2016 – 2020

Bachelor Chemistry, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Thesis on: “Energy transfer between Eu-doped La₂O₂S and CdSe nanoplatelets”, supervised by Jur de Wit, MSc and Prof. Dr.  Andries Meijerink.