Title: Catalysis for a carbon neutral energy industry

Professor：Johannes A. Lercher (Institute for Integrated Catalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA Catalysis Research Center, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany)

Time：April 30, 2024 (Tuesday) 14:30

Address：Conference Room S213, Xinhua Hall, Slender West Lake Campus

Organizer：School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (Institute of Innovative Materials and Energy)

Short Bio：

Johannes Lercher studied Chemistry at the TU Wien, completing doctoral studies in 1980 and spent 1982 at Yale University. After a decade at TU Wien, he joined the University of Twente, Netherlands as Professor of Chemical Technology. Since 1998, he is Professor of Chemistry at the TU München, and since 2011 also Director of the Institute of Integrated Catalysis at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Research addresses fundamental aspects of catalysis lowering the carbon footprint via radically new approaches to energy carriers and intermediates. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Catalysis and was President of the International Zeolite Association and the European Federation of Catalysis Societies. He is member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, and the German National Academy of Science and Engineering. Recent awards include the Michel Boudart Award, the Alwin Mittasch Prize and the ENI Award for Hydrocarbon Research.

Abstract：

Changing the fossil carbon dependence of the current energy industry to a carbon emission neutral scenario is one of the key challenges for the next decades. While at present the major emphasis lies on electrification of all possible aspects, power harvesting and conversion into energy carriers compatible with the present industry will be needed to a much higher extent than anticipated and will involve catalysis as a key element. Three generic reactions will dominate: Hydrogen addition and removal, elimination of heteroatoms, and breaking and forming C-C bonds. The reactions will have to be conducted in a more decentralized way than currently practiced, requiring intensified processes at conditions of minimum severity. The lecture will discuss fundamental principles to enhance hydrogen addition and removal, the elimination of C-O bonds, and the formation of C-C bonds. It will be shown that rigorous understanding of elementary steps in all three reactions is a prerequisite for increasing the rates and selectivities. The impact of solvents and the role of external electric potential in enhancing reaction rates are identified as critical knowledge gaps and will be discussed.