Prof. Emiel Hensen
The research of prof. dr. Emiel Hensen (Inorganic Materials Chemistry group at Eindhoven University of Technology) is focused on catalysis, materials and sustainable energy. The objective is a complete understanding of the reactive chemistry at catalytic surfaces, often gained through experimental and theoretical studies of model systems. Advanced catalyst characterization, increasingly obtained under in-situ or operando conditions, is employed in close coordination with theory involving electronic structure calculations to compute reaction dynamics and statistical approaches to predict macroscopic performance. The molecular-level understanding guides development of new catalytic materials that are designed at the nanoscale to function on the meso- and macroscale. A wide range of applications is studied relevant to the development of clean and sustainable processes for production of fuels and chemicals. The research is organized in the following four focus areas: (i) Porous Materials; (ii) Biomass Conversion, (iii) Structure Sensitivity in Catalysis and (iv) Solar Fuels Catalysis.