Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry (LSK)

The PSI Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry studies functioning catalysts for energy conversion and storage as well as for sustainable chemicals conversion.

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Lab News & Scientific Highlights

02.09.2021

Watch them growing: New mechanistic insights into catalytic methane coupling

Methane valorization is a promising technology to utilize this platform compound to produce aromatics and hydrocarbons. Researchers from PSI and ETH Zürich unveiled this reaction mechanism and observed the molecular growth from the ground up. Besides stepwise CH3 addition, novel routes involving the dimerization of resonantly stabilized propargyl (C₃H₃) radicals to benzene (C₆H₆) were identified. These mechanistic insights will aid the development of valorisation strategies.

27.01.2021

•Energy and Climate

The dynamics of overlayer formation on catalyst nanoparticles and strong metal-support interaction

The editors at Nature Communications have put together an Editors’ Highlights webpage of recent research called “Catalysis” and chose to feature Arik Beck's et al. article, entitled “The dynamics of overlayer formation on catalyst nanoparticles and strong metal-support interaction”.

In situ XPS of the catalysts during water gas shift reaction

21.01.2021

•Energy and Climate

PUBLISHED IN NATURE: A stable low-temperature H2-production catalyst by crowding Pt on α-MoC

Platinum isolated atoms and clusters supported on molybdenum carbide have been extensively characterized. The presence of both species is essential to boost the stability, so that the catalysts displays high metal-normalized turnover number of 4,300,000 moles of hydrogen per mole of platinum

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Publications

Usoltsev O, Stoian D, Skorynina A, Kozyr E, Njoroge PN, Pellegrini R, et al.
Restructuring of palladium nanoparticles during oxidation by molecular oxygen
Small. 2024: 2401184 (11 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202401184
DORA PSI
Beck A, Newton MA, van de Water LGA, van Bokhoven JA
The enigma of methanol synthesis by Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃-based catalysts
Chemical Reviews. 2024; 124(8): 4543-4678. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00148
DORA PSI
Rzepka P, Sheptyakov D, Wang C, van Bokhoven JA, Paunović V
How micropore topology influences the structure and location of coke in zeolite catalysts
ACS Catalysis. 2024: 5593-5604. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c00025
DORA PSI