Develop a photo-thermal process for conversion of CH4 to Ethylene using Halide chemistry and Ag-coated beads
Understand light and heat transfer properties of Ag-coated beads in an internally illuminated plug flow reactor
Develop kinetic understanding of methane-halide chemistry catalyzed by Ag
Develop a photo-thermal process for conversion of CO2 to SynGas using CeO2-supported metal based catalysts
Study the nature of defects on CeO2 by (low temperature) Raman spectroscopy (collaboration with Cees Otto (Medical Cell BioPhysics group)
Correlate the presence of defects to optical and photo-thermal catalytic properties of CeO2
Equipment:
We perform photothermal chemistry by placing samples in a reactor which can be heated and exposed to illumination. CO2/H2-containing He gas is purged through the reactor. Mass spectrometry is used to analyze the products formed at various photothermal conditions.
We perform Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) to develop fundamental insight into the reactions taking place on metal oxide surfaces loaded with metal or transition metal nitride nanoparticles. To this end, samples are exposed to CO2/H2-containing He gas in a DRIFT cell under controllable heating and illumination conditions, while monitoring the chemical reactions occurring.
Ultrafast spectroscopy is used to understand charge carrier behavior and dynamics during photothermal processes (also see link).