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.