Our research

Program & Main Themes

SynCat@Beijing has set out an ambitious fundamental reserch program which is dedicated to the understanding structure and reactivity of matter. To get insights into the catalytic processes relevant for clean CTL forms the framework of this mission.

Fe FTS in action

This first major research program at SynCat@Beijing is aimed at the surface chemistry of Fe Fischer-Tropsch catalysts in their working – carbidic – state. It ranges from catalyst preparation, formulation, characterization and testing as it is commonly done in a professional industrial laboratory, via surface science of nano-particles and single-crystals to molecular modeling by computational methods.

The large distance between the worlds of applied catalysis and the extremely simplified situations dealt with in molecular modeling will tried to be bridged by

(a) studies of planar model catalysts consisting of well-defined nanoparticles on planar supports which greatly simplifies the assessment of the catalyst’s morphology, structure sensitivity and deactivation processes; and

(b) studies of the surface chemistry of iron and carbidic iron, which serve to validate the results of DFT studies and offer a better basis for understanding reaction mechanisms.

SynCat@Beijing scientists have (co-)authored several publications in collaboration with other laboratories all around the world.

“Pd segregation to the surface of Au on Pd(111) and on Pd/TiO2(110)”

Ryan Sharpe, Jon Counsell, Michael Bowker, Surf. Sci. 656 (2017) 60–65

“Role of ZnO and CeOx in Cu-Based Model Catalysts in Activation of H2O and CO2 Dynamics Studied by in Situ Ultraviolet–Visible and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy”

Yibin Bu, C. J. Weststrate, J. W. Niemantsverdriet, and Hans O. A. Fredriksson, ACS Catal. 6 (2016) 7994–800

“Properties of Manganese(III) Ferrocenyl-β-Diketonato Complexes Revealed by Charge Transfer and Multiplet Splitting in the Mn 2p and Fe 2p X-Ray Photoelectron Envelopes”

Blenerhassitt E. Buitendach, Elizabeth Erasmus, J. W. (Hans) Niemantsverdriet, and Jannie C. Swarts, Molecules 21 (2016) 1427

“Consequences of Electron-Density Manipulations on the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic Properties of Ferrocenyl-β-diketonato Complexes of Manganese(III). Structure of [Mn(FcCOCHCOCH3)3]”

Blenerhassitt E. Buitendach, Elizabeth Erasmus, Marilé Landman, J. W. (Hans) Niemantsverdriet, and Jannie C. Swarts, Inorg. Chem. 55 (2016) 1992

“Exploring the mechanisms of metal co-catalysts in photocatalytic reduction reactions: Is Ag a good candidate?”

Qian Yanga, Wilm Jones, Peter P. Wells, David Morgan, Lichun Dong, Baoshan Hu, Nikolaos Dimitratos, Mingdong Dong, Mike Bowker, Flemming Besenbacher, Ren Su, Appl. Catal. A 518 (2016) 213

“Band gap narrowing of SnS2 superstructures with improved hydrogen production”

G. Li, R. Su, J. Rao, J. Wu, P. Rudolf, G.R. Blake, R.A. de Groot, F. Besenbacher, and T.T.M. Palstra, J. Mater. Chem. A 4 (2016) 209

“Alternative Materials to TiO2“

Ren Su, Flemming Besenbacher, Graham Hutchings; In: J. C. Colmenares, Y.-J. Xu (Eds.) Heterogeneous Photocatalysis, Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology, Berlin Heidelberg, Springer, 2016, p. 109

“One-Step Production of 1,3-Butadiene from 2,3-Butanediol Dehydration”

Xi Liu, Viktoria Fabos, Stuart Taylor, David W. Knight, Keith Whiston, Graham J. Hutchings, Chem. – Eur. J. 22 (2016) 12290–12294

“Ir-induced activation of Au towards CO adsorption: Ir films deposited on Au{111}”

Tianfu Zhang, Stephen M. Driver, Stephanie J. Pratt, Stephen J. Jenkins, David A. King, Surf. Sci. 648 (2016) 10–13

“Isomorphous substitution induced ionothermal synthesis of magnesium aluminophosphate zeolites in fluoride-free media”

Ying Wei, Ling Zhang and Zhijian Tian, RSC Adv. 66 (2016) 61915-61919

“Cu Model Catalyst Dynamics and CO Oxidation Kinetics Studied by Simultaneous in Situ UV–Vis and Mass Spectroscopy”Yibin Bu, J. W. Hans Niemantsverdriet, and Hans O. A. Fredriksson, ACS Catal. 6 (2015) 2867