MCEC Newsletter June 2022



Dear MCEC Member,

In our latest MCEC Newsletter you can read about:

  • Program MCEC Annual Meeting 2022
  • Catalysis Connected: Program and Registration
  • MCEC Members interview: Yali Tang (TU/e)
  • ERC Starting Grant for Sander Huisman (UT)
  • VICI grant for Pieter Bruijnincx (UU)
  • Project Ward van der Stam (UU) granted in Open Competition Domain Science – XS
  • MCEC Lecture Series wrapped up
  • Petra Keijzer (UU) successfully defended her thesis
  • MCEC Publications

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Program MCEC Annual Meeting 2022

We are looking forward to meeting you at the MCEC Annual Meeting 2022. The program will start on Wednesday 15th of June at 10.45h with an opening by Anne-Eva Nieuwelink.

click to enlarge

Where to go
The Anthony Hotel Utrecht
Kanaalstraat 197
3531 CG Utrecht
Tel 030 2272975
The Anthony Hotel

How to get there
For those of you traveling by train, you can walk from Utrecht Central Station to Kanaalstraat 197. It is a 14 min walk.
If you travel by car, please contact The Anthony for a parking space. They are limited and not free of charge.

Overnight stay
For our Phd’s from TUE and UTWENTE we have booked hotel rooms at NH Hotel Jaarbeursplein Utrecht. I have included a list who will be staying overnight. Please find a roommate for the night. And check in together at the NH Hotel.
If sharing a room is not an option for you, let me know. I can reserve a single room, but these costs will not be paid by MCEC.

How to prepare
A selected group of PhD’s are giving a presentation on their current research. All others bring a poster. There will be two poster sessions.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We will see you all on Wednesday 15th of June.


Catalysis Connected 15-16 September 2022

On September 15-16 we will challenge aspiring researchers in the field of catalysis to discuss their views and research on the question: ‘How to use the CO2 and waste of today as our materials and energy of tomorrow?’ We are inviting a young multi-disciplinary audience of PhDs and PDs from The Netherlands and Belgium to discuss this topic with us.

Registration is open

Please note: All MCEC PhD’s will receive an e-mail to register

Visit catalysisconnected.nl to discover the preliminary program and to explore the location in Eindhoven.

This registration fee will include:
Full access to Catalysis Connected from 15-16 September 2022 in Eindhoven with:

  • 5 engaging plenary lectures divided over 2 days
  • 6 focus sessions with a total of 18 speakers on topics related to:
    • Sustainable re-use of CO2
    • Biobased plastics
    • Chemical plastic recycling
    • Biocatalytic upgrading
    • Biomass conversion
  • 2 poster sessions
  • Lunch and dinner will be included. There is also the possibility to book a hotel room at the NH Eindhoven Conference Centre Koningshof (not included in the registration fee)

Take part
We invite you to take an active part in our program by presenting a poster, by discussing your own research during the interactive sessions with fellow researchers, by meeting industry professionals and of course by attending our top guest lectures.


MCEC Members interview: Yali Tang (TU/e)

Photo Vincent van den Hoogen

In the second phase of MCEC, we have welcomed many new members. In this rubric we will introduce Yali Tang (TU/e), assistant professor at the research group Power & Flow of Prof. Niels Deen in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Eindhoven.

Read more

 

 

 


 

ERC Starting Grant for Sander Huisman (UT): Understanding the melting dynamics in turbulent flow

Predicting the melting process of an iceberg or glacier, is often not even close to the actual physics, the difference can be a factor 100. Modelling dynamics is also complex in chemical processes in which several boundary layers play a role. One of the common beliefs is that the shape of an object will be smooth caused by melting. In reality, flows around melting objects cause a rough surface. This leads to completely different outcomes. The ‘multiscale’ nature – from micrometers to kilometers – of processes, in a turbulent environment and with interaction at the boundary layers, makes it very complex. With fundamental fluid dynamics as a starting point, Sander Huisman wants to reach a better understanding. He is not only developing new models, but he will also prepare experiments including 3D imaging, to investigate the mechanisms of melting and dissolution. He expects this will give valuable new insights in mechanisms and causes of climate change.

Congratulations Sander!


VICI grant for Pieter Bruijnincx (UU)

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has granted a Vici grant to Prof. Pieter Bruijninx of Utrecht University for his research project: Circular-by-design: making chemical building blocks and materials more sustainablyPieter Bruijnincx: ‘We need to change the way we meet our society’s demands for carbon-containing materials. In this project, we put circularity central to molecular redesign of the chemicals and materials we daily use and develop new synthesis strategies to produce them more sustainably.’

Many congratulations Pieter!


NWO approves Ward van der Stam (UU) application in Open Competition Domain Science – XS

The NWO Domain Board Science has awarded 26 applications in the Open Competition Domain Science – XS. Each project could apply for a maximum of 50.000 euros. The XS category emphatically strives to encourage curiosity-driven and bold research involving a relatively quick analysis of a promising idea.

Ward van der Stam on his application: Widespread implementation of electrochemical CO2 conversion to combat climate change is hampered by too rapid electrocatalyst deactivation. To stabilize electrocatalysts and take a large step forward towards widespread implementation of electrocatalysis in the energy transition, the ECOFLUX researchers will develop a unique combined X-ray diffraction and fluorescence setup to probe the chemical structure (diffraction) and composition (fluorescence) of CO2 valorization electrocatalysts at work.

Read more


MCEC Lecture Series wrapped up

The past year we have invited former PhD candidates who are now working in Academia or Industry to give us a lecture on their experiences. Our goal was to give you more insight in the possibilities after you have completed your PhD 

We want to thank Laurens Mandemaker, Pablo Penas, Katarina Stanciakova, Jeroen Vollenbroek, Jessi van de Hoeven, Evgeny Uslamin, Ivan Devic for making the effort to educate us on their progress!


Dr. Petra Keijzer (UU)

On April 6, Petra Keijzer successfully defended her thesis titled ‘Preparation of supported silver catalysts’

Petra Keijzer: We used model support materials to simplify the system and to make advanced characterization methods more powerful. One of the used support materials is macroporous α-alumina with ordered spherical pores. Important aspects of this material are the high specific surface area and the fact that it has the α-structure. We managed to improve the stability of the porous structure during preparation, leading to a more regular structure with high specific surface area.

Congratulations Petra!


MCEC Publications

On an intensification factor for green chemistry and engineering: The value of an operationally simple decision-making tool in process assessment – Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy
Fernandez Rivas, D., Cintas, P.

Tandem catalysis with double-shelled hollow spheres – Nature Materials
Xiao, J., Cheng, K., Xie, X., Wang, M., Xing, S., Liu, Y., Hartman, T., Fu, D., Bossers, K., van Huis, M.A., van Blaaderen, A., Wang, Y., Weckhuysen, B.M.

Impact of Noise and Background on Measurement Uncertainties in Luminescence Thermometry – ACS Photonics
Van Swieten, T.P., Meijerink, A., Rabouw, F.T.

Utilization of Silver Silicate for the Formation of Highly Dispersed Silver on Silica Catalysts – ChemCatChem
Keijzer, P.H., de Jongh, P.E., de Jong, K.P.

Lateral Interactions of Dynamic Adlayer Structures from Artificial Neural Networks – Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Klumpers, B., Hensen, E.J.M., Filot, I.A.W.

Protection Strategies for the Conversion of Biobased Furanics to Chemical Building Blocks – ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Coumans, F.J.A.G., Overchenko, Z., Wiesfeld, J.J., Kosinov, N., Nakajima, K., Hensen, E.J.M.

Dual Fluorescence in Glutathione-Derived Carbon Dots Revisited – Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Ganjkhanlou, Y., Maris, J.E., Koek, J., Riemersma, R., Weckhuysen, B.M., Meirer, F.

Marangoni instabilities of drops of different viscosities in stratified liquids – Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Li, Y., Meijer, J.G., Lohse, D.

Unravelling Channel Structure–Diffusivity Relationships in Zeolite ZSM-5 at the Single-Molecule Level – Angewandte Chemie – International Edition
Fu, D., Maris, J.J.E., Stanciakova, K., Nikolopoulos, N., van der Heijden, O., Mandemaker, L.D.B., Siemons, M.E., Salas Pastene, D., Kapitein, L.C., Rabouw, F.T., Meirer, F., Weckhuysen, B.M.

The effect of buoyancy driven convection on the growth and dissolution of bubbles on electrodes – Electrochimica Acta
Sepahi, F., Pande, N., Chong, K.L., Mul, G., Verzicco, R., Lohse, D., Mei, B.T., Krug, D.

A scanning pulse reaction technique for transient analysis of the methanol-to-hydrocarbons reaction – Catalysis Today
Liutkova, A., Uslamin, E., Parastaev, A., Bolshakov, A., Mezari, B., Hensen, E.J.M., Kosinov, N.

Hole Dynamics in Photoexcited Hematite Studied with Femtosecond Oxygen K-edge X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy – Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Uemura, Y., Ismail, A.S.M., Park, S.H., Kwon, S., Kim, M., Elnaggar, H., Frati, F., Wadati, H., Hirata, Y., Zhang, Y., Yamagami, K., Yamamoto, S., Matsuda, I., Halisdemir, U., Koster, G., Milne, C., Ammann, M., Weckhuysen, B.M., De Groot, F.M.F.

Operando Spectroscopy Unveils the Catalytic Role of Different Palladium Oxidation States in CO Oxidation on Pd/CeO2 Catalysts – Angewandte Chemie – International Edition
Muravev, V., Simons, J.F.M., Parastaev, A., Verheijen, M.A., Struijs, J.J.C., Kosinov, N., Hensen, E.J.M.

New insights into the NH3-selective catalytic reduction of NO over Cu-ZSM-5 as revealed by operando spectroscopy – Catalysis Science and Technology
Ye, X., Oord, R., Monai, M., Schmidt, J.E., Chen, T., Meirer, F., Weckhuysen, B.M.

Influence of atmosphere, interparticle distance and support on the stability of silver on α-alumina for ethylene epoxidation – Journal of Catalysis
Keijzer, P.H., van den Reijen, J.E., Keijzer, C.J., de Jong, K.P., de Jongh, P.E.