Projects

Theoretical Catalysis Project led by Dennis Palagin was started in June 2016 as a theory division of LSK, and is focused on applying state-of-the-art ab initio methods to study the interplay between the structure and the chemical properties of novel catalytic materials. We aim at understanding the chemical nature of the catalytic processes to be able to facilitate rational design of novel engineered materials.

THEOCAT project webpage

The NAPP Project, led by Luca Artiglia since September 2015, was started in 2013 after the purchase and commissioning of a commercial Scienta R400 Hipp-2 ambient pressure photoelectron analyzer. The main goal is to characterize the surface of real catalysts either in-situ or under operando conditions by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy carried out in the millibar range. We aim at understanding the physico-chemical properties of catalysts under reaction conditions, and to identify what are the active species involved in the mechanism.

NAPP project webpage

The Pump-probe project led by Grigory Smolentsev started in 2015 as a continuation of previous project at SuperXAS beamline of the SLS synchrotron. The aim of the project is the development and application of time-resolved X-ray absorption and X-ray emission methods to characterize intermediate state of catalysts and photo-excited states of metal complexes.

Time Resolved XAS project webpage