Discovery and evaluation of heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable processes

Discovery of active and stable heterogeneous catalysts following traditional approaches is a labour-intensive process that involves the synthesis of catalysts, the characterisation with range of techniques and the evaluation of catalytic performance. This approach does not allow the researcher to perform a large number of iterations or to explore a broad range of the potential chemical space during the typical period of a PhD studentship. Instead the implementation of high throughput methodologies on synthesis and proxy based screening of catalysts will enable the expansion of the number of experiments that will be executed at the same period of time. Moreover the automated character of robotic systems will reduce the repetitive and monotonous work and will provide the researcher more time for the detailed study of the results and the creative planning of the following experiments.
In this project libraries of catalysts will be synthesized following parallelised protocols of coprecipitation and wet impregnation techniques. Proxy screens will be developed to prirotise materials for screening. Augmenting the proxy and real catalytic screening will allow the further refinement of the protocol and on the following steps the integration with other high throughput tests, such as catalysts' reducibility and porosity will provide extra dimensions on the proxy / real activity relationship.

Johnson Matthey's address is Technology Centre, Blounts Court, Sonning Common, Reading, RG4 9NH: The JM supervisor is Dr. Andrew York andrew.york@matthey.com