Materials Chemistry and Catalysis

Available student projects in MCC

BSc projects

If you are interested in doing a BSc project, you can write to dr. Peter Ngene. You can find an overview of the PhD candidates and postdocs via our Team site. You can also contact PhD candidates or post-doctoral researchers directly, with dr. Peter Ngene in the CC.

MSc projects

For the academic year 2025-2026 we can place a maximum of 15 MSc students in projects. Supervision will generally be by a PhD candidate as daily supervisor, with one or two staff supervisors. You can indicate a first, second and third topic as preference to our coordinator Peter Ngene,. You can also contact the PhDs and postdocs directly if you would like more information about their research. Some of the current open topics to choose from are:

CO₂-hydrogenation catalysis: Reducible metal oxide promotion of Cu nanoparticles in CO₂ to methanol conversion (Kyra van Nieuwkerk, k.m.vannieuwkerk@uu.nl).

Cu-based materials are widely used in industry for syngas to methanol conversion. To reduce emissions, switching to a CO₂-based feed is essential. This is, however, not straightforward, as Cu catalysts face H₂O-induced instability and limited activity in high CO₂-concentrations. Adding small amounts of reducible metal oxides (i.e. a promoter) to the catalyst can dramatically enhance the performance of Cu. The reason behind this is unclear, but metal oxide-metal (Cu) interactions and the catalytically active oxygen vacancies in the promoter under reaction conditions are believed to play an important role. With a former Msc. student, I found three different reducible metal oxides that remarkably improved the performance of Cu. Now, I am looking for someone who is interested in figuring out why they work and in what amounts. The ultimate goal is to establish structure-performance relationships and to understand how the promoter interacts with Cu (i.e. how it changes the properties of Cu). After synthesis (incipient wetness impregnation), this calls for in depth characterization (EM, XRD, IR and more) and catalytic testing of different Cu:promoter ratios. Interested in this versatile project? You’re more than welcome to contact me! Ideal starting time: summer or autumn of 2026.

• Computational/Machine learning: Applied to catalysis and energy storage (directly with Nong Artrith or Robin van der Kruyt).

Literature review projects

If you are interested in performing a literature thesis in our group, you can contact a PhD candidate or postdoc with a project that seems interesting to you directly and ask if she/he has a project for you. You can find an overview of the PhD candidates and postdocs via our Team site. If you cannot find a suitable project, please ask our coordinator Peter Ngene.