CoSolCat · Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties

Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties

For various applications likes chemical synthesis, energy conversion, water/air purification or medicine, precious metal are important elements. However, precious metals are non-renewable resources and in limited supply. To make the most of every single atom of the precious metal (e.g. Pt, Ir, Pd, Au, Ag, Ru, Rh, Os), designing materials down to the atomic scale is a promising and rewarding approach. Unfortunately, designing such nanomaterials is not a trivial task. In particular, in wet chemical syntheses used worldwide, many chemicals are needed to form and stabilize nanomaterials from molecular complexes. These chemicals often derived from fossil fuels and/or are toxic. For instance, surfactants are added molecules in order to stabilize the nanomaterials and control size, shape or composition. In most cases, these surfactants typically need to be removed in order to make the surface atom fully available for applications, e.g. for optimized catalysis. This removal step add complexity, cost, are often energy intensive and typically performed with moderate success. Alternatives must be proposed. Developing surfactant-free syntheses is challenging but extremely rewarding. It makes the synthesis process much simpler, safer and better controlled, for instance by being more reproducible by reducing the risk of being subject to the strong effects of impurities when using several chemicals. This simplicity can facilitate the transfer of knowledge on the synthesis to larger scale. It leads to catalysts with higher activity, which is highly desired to make the most of the precious metal resources. Overall, this makes surfactant-free syntheses very promising platforms to develop for both fundamental, applied and industrial research and development. The overall objective of the CoSolCat project (Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties) is to explore the full benefits of new surfactant-free syntheses. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the related limitations, 15 peer-reviewed publications were published in relation to the project and one patent application placed in summer 2021, with ongoing discussions with an industrial partner to test/benchmark the technology. I also secured a Tenure Track Assistant Professor position which is a significant step further in an academic career. Information can be found on the general webpage: https://chem.ku.dk/ansatte/alle/?pure=en/persons/509101, since no specific website has been developed for the project. A link to the projects on CORDIS is also made on my new research group website: http://nestresearchlab.com/The%20Team/

Data: CORDIS, © European Union