D Catalytic Materials

EAM Research Area D – Catalytic Materials

New and more efficient catalytic materials

Combination of highest selectivity and reactivity with robustness, synthetic availability, and ease of processing

Research Area D deals with the development of advanced catalytic materials focusing on three demonstrator applications in selective C- C-coupling and C-C-cleavage reactions. For these applications, the full research chain from the design of individual catalytic centers on the molecular level to an almost technical, pilot-plant scenario is established, including material design, characterization, synthesis, and production as well as reaction engineering studies up to pilot-plant scale.

Hierarchical, acidic materials displaying a “Lotus flower effect” for catalytic cracking applications (designer surface structures to influence coke formation processes)
Hierarchical catalytic materials displaying multi-functionality and surface-structure-induced selectivity pattern in C-C-couplings are designed, synthesized, and tested in continuous miniplants (combining complementary catalytic functionalities at the nanoscale with a maximum degree of structural control to influence the regioselectivity in oligomerisation reaction of alkenes)
Catalyst deposition and immobilization on photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) developed in Research Area C. Bundles of these catalytic optical fibers/catalysts assembly are integrated as a new type of optical minireactor.