Catalysis for Energy Conversion

Recent progress of catalysis for energy conversion will be discussed: With respect to heterogeneous catalysis it will be demonstrated how close interaction in between theory and experiments can lead to entirely new catalysts for synthesis of for example methanol [1,2]. Also the aspects of the methanol synthesis on the conventional CuZn catalysts [3] just as new catalyst for ammonia oxidation [4] will be discussed. On the electrochemical side we shall demonstrate progress in finding new Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction and show how the activity is closely related to the lattice parameter for the alloys consisting of Pt5X where X is rare earth metals [5]. It will also be show that mass-selected nanoparticles made from a cluster source show very high activity and how their nature can be elucidate by combining activity and synchrotron measurements [6]. It will be demonstrated how we again through a close theory experiment approach have been able to find an entirely new class of catalyst for hydrogen peroxide production [7,8]. The approach of using Mass-selected nanoparticles from as sputter magnetron will be demonstrated for establishing state-of-the art of Ru catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) [9]. In particular we shall here show the importance of using alternative methods like Electrochemical Quartz microbalance and ICP measurements to supplement the typically, but insufficient, chronoamperometric or chronovoltaometric measurements. If time allows it will also be discussed how some of these catalysts can be used for devices for Photo-Electro-Chemical devices for solar water splitting [10].

1. F. Studt, F. Abild-Pedersen, I. Sharafutdinov, C. F. Elkær, J. S. Hummelshøj, S. Dahl, I. Chorkendorff, and J. K. Nørskov, 'Discovery of a Ni-Ga catalyst for CO2 reduction to methanol' Accepted Nature Chemistry (2014) doi:10.1038/nchem.1873.
2. I. Sharafutdinov, C. Elkjær, H. Carvallo, D. Gardini, G. Chiarello, C. Damsgaard, J. Wagner, J. Grunwaldt, S. Dahl, I. Chorkendorff, 'Investigations into synthesis and optimization of supported intermetallic Ni-Ga catalysts using a combination of complementary characterization tools', Submitted (2014).
3. S. Kuld, C. Conradsen, P.G. Moses, I. Chorkendorff and J. Sehested, 'Direct Observation of a Zn Surface Alloy on Cu in an Industrial-type Methanol Synthesis Catalyst' Accepted Angewandte Chemie (2014)
4. C. Conradsen, S. Olesen, D. Chakraborty, C. Damsgaard, J. Grunwaldt, I. Chorkendorff, 'Catalytic activity of model‐ and high surface area Cu/Ru catalyst for low temperature ammonia oxidation', In preparation (2014).
5. M. Escudero-Escribano, P. Malacrida, U. Grønbjerg, V. Tripkovic, J. Rossmeisl, I. E.L. Stephens, I. Chorkendorff, 'Understanding the trends in activity and stability of Pt-based cathode electrocatalysts for low-temperature fuel cells', In preparation (2014).
6. P. Hernandez-Fernandez, F. Masini, D. N. McCarthy, C. E. Strebel, D. Friebel, D. Deiana, P. Malacrida, A. Nierhoff, A. Bodin, J. H. Nielsen, T. W. Hansen, A. Nilsson, I. E.L. Stephens, I. Chorkendorff, 'High Activity of Mass-selected PtxY Nanoparticles for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction,' Submitted (2013).
7. S. Siahrostami, A. Verdaguer-Casadevall, M. Karamad, P. Malacrida, B. Wickman, M. Escudero-Escribano, I. Chorkendorff, I. Stephens, J. Rossmeisl, 'Enabling sustainable O2 electroreduction to H2O2 by catalyst design' Nature Materials 12 (2013) 1137-1143.
8. A. Verdaguer-Casadevall, D. Deiana, M. Karamad, S. Siahrostami, P. Malacrida1, T. W. Hansen, J. Rossmeisl, I. Chorkendorff, I. Stephens1, 'Trends in activity and selectivity for direct electrochemical synthesis of H2O2 'Nano Letters (2014) Doi 10.1021/nl500037x.
9. E. Paoli, R. Frydendal, I.E.L. Stephens, S. Chlaup, S. Horch, and I. Chorkendorff, 'Activity and stability of Mass-selected Ru and Ru oxide Nanopraticles'. In Preparation (2014).
10. B. Mei, B. Seger, T. Pedersen, O. Hansen, I. Chorkendorff, and P. C. K. Vesborg, 'Protection of p+-n Si-Photoanodes by sputter-deposited Ir/IrOx thin films', Submitted (2014).