Research

Themes

One of our aims is to foster collaboration between different disciplines, research groups and universities. Within this program there are 3 research themes identified, all of them on different topics and based on collaboration between different groups.

Catalyst Diagnostics to Develop More Active Catalysts

New green routes for fuels and chemicals require radically new catalyst materials. But with current technologies, testing and characterizing these materials is very time-consuming. In this theme, the PhD student will develop an integrated spectroscopic and microfluidic testing platform, inspired by the latest developments in life sciences.

Smart Biomass Conversion

What if we could replace crude oil with a more sustainable alternative to make the transportation fuels of the future? The chemical process currently used for the production of e.g. liquid fuels, can be tailored to enable the use of certified biomass as well as municipal waste. The PhD student will work on the synthesis of a new generation catalysts, capable of using a.o. lignin as a renewable feedstock to produce fuels, fuel additives or base chemicals, such as aromatics.

Storing Electricity from Renewable Sources in Chemical Bonds

Solar and wind energy are incessant, but by nature intermittent resources. One way to store the temporary surplus of ‘green power’ lies in chemical bonds. Within this theme, the PhD student will work on the design, characterization and testing of new solid catalysts capable of turning carbon dioxide into fuels and base chemicals.

MCEC Phase 1