News and Agenda

2012

March

CE Hot Feature Article 

The recent CE feature article ‘Metal–organic frameworks as scaffolds for the encapsulation of active species: state of the art and future perspectives’, by Jana Juan-Alcañiz, Jorge Gascon and Freek Kapteijn, has been identified as a ‘hot article’ for Journal of Materials Chemistry.  The article has been highlighted on the journal blog: http://blogs.rsc.org/jm/

March

Chemicals from Bio-Mass

CE work on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis from bio-gas has been recently highlighted by the C2W magazine.

2011

September

Steven Hoogendijk award for Johan van den Bergh

Johan van den Bergh received on September 17th, 2011 the Steven Hoogendijk award of the 'Bataafsch Genootschap voor Proefondervindelijke' from the mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, praeses magnificus of this society. This prize is awarded biannually for the best PhD Thesis of the Delft University of Technology, this time covering 2009 and 2010.

Johan defended his PhD thesis in September 2010. This research focused on the application of DD3R membranes for various energy efficient separation and catalytic processes. Further, he developed a new engineering model to describe the diffusive mixture transport through zeolites. This model bridges the microscopic computational modeling and the macroscopic engineering worlds.

Thesis summary

Bataafsch Genootschap

Picture: Johan receives the award from mayor Aboutaleb.

July

CE paper reaches the front cover of Chemistry A European Journal

The manuscript entitled “Understanding the Anomalous Alkane Selectivity of ZIF-7 in the Separation of Light Alkane/Alkene Mixtures”  by Johan van den Bergh, Canan Gücüyener, Evgeny A. Pidko, Emiel J. M. Hensen, Jorge Gascon and Freek Kapteijn, selected as Very Important Publication (VIP) by Chemistry A European Journal, has reached the front cover of issue 17 of this prestigious Willey publication.

In the publication, it is shown that the efficient use of the gate-opening effect in the zeolite imidazolate framework ZIF-7 upon adsorption of light alkene/alkane mixtures might open the door to a new separation technology based on selective alkane adsorption. A detailed investigation of the adsorption and separation of alkanes and alkenes, as well as a rigorous performance assessment is reported.

Canan Gücüyener wins FEZA poster award

On the 5th International FEZA (Federation of European Zeolite Associations) carried out in Valencia, Spain(3-6 July), Canan Gücüyener received the award for her poster presentation "Understanding the anomalous paraffin selectivity of ZIF-7 in the separation of light alkane/alkene mixtures" (co-authors Johan van den Bergh, Evgeny Pidko, Emiel J.M. Hensen, Jorge Gascon and Freek Kapteijn). 

April

Michiel Makkee (ChemE) appointed parttime Professor Politecnico di Torino

Dr.Ir. Michiel Makkee has been conferred on March the 15th by the Doctoral School and the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering of the Politecnico di Torino the parttime assignment related to the special professorship in the field of "Sustainable Process Technology".

Reputation

Politecnico di Torino (founded in 1859) has a long-standing tradition and reputation. It is one of the leading technical universities in Italy and throughout the world. It is currently in 7th place in Europe for engineering studies and first in Italy for internationalization and for technical studies.
Various research
The Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering (DISMIC) deals with various research subjects which range from the fundamentals of chemistry and materials science to the production and behaviour of engineered materials. The increasing demand for applications which call for innovative materials, specifically designed and created for solutions which are often unique.
Product Engineering
The DISMICO's aims include offering a new approach to the sector. This reflects the principles of "product engineering": a way of integrating all the skills and knowledge involved in creating the products industry needs with the objective of material optimization for each application.

January

Selective adsorption of alkanes over alkenes

In a recent paper we describe the anomalous adsorption properties of a zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-7. This sorbent prefers ethane over ethylene and propane over propylene under the right conditions. In a packed bed adsorption pure ethylene could be recovered directly from a mixture with ethane. Usually sorbents have the reversed selectivity and the recovery of the adsorbed alkene is quite energy intensive.

This opens perspectives for energy efficient separation processes.

J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132 (50), pp 17704Ð17706, DOI: 10.1021/ja1089765

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/88/8850scic4.html

2010

October

Canan Gücüyener wins ENMIX poster award

On the 1^st International Workshop of the European Nanoporous Materials Institute of Excellence (ENMIX) Nanoporous Materials for Sorption, Separation and Catalysis in Antwerp, Belgium (4-5 October), Canan Gücüyener received the award for her poster presentation "Anomalous adsorption properties of the metal organic framework ZIF-7" (co-authors Johan van den Bergh, Jorge Gascon and Freek Kapteijn). On the picture Canan receives the award from CEO prof. Etienne Vansant.

September

Johan van den Bergh cum laude Doctor

Johan van den Bergh has been awarded the cum laude (with distinction) doctorate degree after successfully defending his PhD thesis DD3R zeolite membranes in separation and catalytic process Modelling and application on 21 September 2010.

Johan has investigated a new type of zeolite membrane for various applications in separation and catalytic processes. Further he developed a new engineering model to describe the diffusive mixture transport through zeolites. This model bridges the microscopic computational modeling and the macroscopic engineering worlds.
He showed that the DD3R membranes hold large promises for the separation of CO₂ from various gas mixtures, like in biogas and natural gas, since it is energetically highly efficient. (summary)

Increased gasoline and olefin production from renewables

In a recent paper CE researchers reveal an efficient method to increase gasoline and olefins production from vegetable oil by more than 30%. The crucial element is the use of nickel in a standard FCC catalyst and a hydrogen containing atmosphere in the cracking process. This opens perspectives for the increased fuel and chemicals production from renewables in the biorefinery.

T. V. Malleswara Rao, M. Milagrosa Clavero and Michiel Makkee, ChemSusChem 3(2010)807 810.

Johan van den Bergh will defend his PhD Thesis DD3R zeolite membranes in separation and catalytic process Modelling and application on 21 September.

In his thesis Johan has investigated a new type of zeolite membrane for various applications in separation and catalytic processes. Further he developed a new engineering model to describe the diffusive mixture transport through zeolites. This model bridges the microscopic computational modeling and the macroscopic engineering worlds.

He showed that the DD3R membranes hold large promises for the separation of CO₂ from various gas mixtures, like in biogas and natural gas, since it is energetically highly efficient (summary).

April

Highest scores CE (5, 5, 5, 5) in international research assessment

Catalysis Engineering received the maximum scores (four times grade 5) in an international research assessment of Chemical Engineering departments at the three Technical Universities in The Netherlands (period 2001-2007).

The maximum scores of 5 were issued for the four evaluation criteria Research quality, Productivity, Relevance and Viability; the best result at Delft University of Technology.

From the QANU (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities) report:

The Catalysis Engineering group belongs to the top in the field and is very successful in linking (heterogeneous) catalysis with reaction engineering. This original approach requires the simultaneous use of a variety of advanced tools in order to tackle a wide variety of topics. The team has obtained an excellent track record in doing so. Generally, the Committee feels that the output is coherent, very well focussed and stands for a very significant contribution to the field. The past and present director as well as the other permanent staff members are very prominently present in the field. The normalized output is considered to be excellent.

The publications are found in the top and better journals of the discipline, while the number of publications per full-time equivalent staff is excellent. The number of defended PhD theses is very high.

Relevance

The group makes a very significant effort to implement their developed knowledge via patents. Valorisation occurs with the help of preferred industrial partners. The Committee appreciates the combination of excellent fundamental output with industrially implemented knowledge.

The review period covers the directorship of Prof. Moulijn, while the presentation was focussing on the first results under the new staff. Clearly, the old topics have been revitalized, while new highlights have been introduced in a very timely fashion. The study of new promising catalytic materials, viz. metallo-organic frameworks and superacids/superbases, as well as new platform chemicals from biomass and new engineering approaches, have been introduced. The number of researchers in combination with the number of new projects stemming from third party funding, seems to assure a successful continuation of the very relevant combination between heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering.

The Catalysis Engineering group shows an excellent track record in every aspect of the evaluation criteria. The group has been able to combine current topics from the area of reactor engineering and heterogeneous catalysis in a creative and focussed way. During the transition of the directorship, old topics have been revitalised, while new relevant ones have been introduced. The Committee sees all necessary elements for a future successful continuation of the activity of this group, in particular in keeping a good balance between dissemination and implementation of science.

More info at: www.qanu.nl

March

CE paper highlighted in Materials Today

The recent publication from the CE section "Building MOF bottles around PhosphoTungstic Acid ships: One-pot synthesis of bi-functional PolyOxoMetalate-MIL-101 catalysts", by J. Juan-Alcaiz, E. V Ramos-Fernandez, U. Lafont, J. Gascon and Freek Kapteijn [J.Catal. 269 (2010), 229] has been highlighted in Materials Today. In this paper the synthesis of a new class of porous solids with outstanding bi-functional catalytic activity is reported. More info: http://www.materialstoday.com/view/7159/a-new-generation-of-catalysts

January

Guido Mul appointed Professor at University of Twente

Guido Mul has left the Catalysis Engineering group to head the new group PhotoCatalytic Synthesis (PCS) at the University of Twente per November 2009. The chair is part of the IMPACT Institute (Institute of Mechanics, Processes, and Control Twente). Research activities are aimed at the development of innovative materials and concepts to run photocatalytic reactions with high efficiency. The focus of the research program is on the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, i.e. to drive thermodynamically uphill reactions such as the synthesis of fuel by CO2 activation. Furthermore, the high selectivities that can be obtained in alkane activation over photon excited catalysts, as well as photocatalytic purification of waste streams, are of interest.

More information can be found at the web-sites of IMPACT (www.impact.utwente.nl) and of the PCS group (www.utwente.nl/tnw/pcs).

2009

November

Jorge Gascon receives VENI-grant from NWO

NWO has awarded per November 2009 the prestigious VENI grant for young promising scientists to our section member dr. Jorge Gascon.
Jorge Gascon received this grant for his research proposal entitled ‘NEXT CAT-HOIF: designing the next generation of solid catalysts’. He proposes to develop a new generation of solid super-acid and super-basic catalysts based on metal-organic frameworks. These are crystalline nano-structured hybrid materials with highly tunable chemical as well as porosity properties.
Solid catalysis is crucial for the development of Green Chemistry. This project will contribute to developing new selective routes that will allow the use of biomass as suitable raw material for the production of chemicals.
Recent successful publications of Jorge in this area comprises:

1. Jana Juan-Alcañiz, Enrique V Ramos-Fernandez, Ugo Lafont, Jorge Gascon, Freek Kapteijn
   Building MOF bottles around PhosphoTungstic Acid ships: One-pot synthesis of bi-functional PolyOxoMetalate-MIL-101 catalysts
   J.Catal. 2009, accepted.
2. J. Gascon, U. Aktay, G. P. M. van Klink and F. Kapteijn
   Amino-based Metal Organic Frameworks as stable, highly active basic catalysts
   J.Catal. 2009, 261, 75-87.
3. S. Couck, J. F. M. Denayer,G. V. Baron, T. Remy, J. Gascon and F. Kapteijn
   An amine-functionalized MIL-53 metal-organic framework with large separation power for CO2 and CH4
   J.Am.Chem.Soc 2009, 131, 6326-6327.
4. E. García-Pérez, J. Gascon, V. Morales-Flórez, J. M. Castillo, F. Kapteijn and S. Calero
   Identification of adsorption sites in Cu-BTC by experimentation and molecular simulation
   Langmuir 2009, 25, 1725-1731.
5. J. Gascon, M. D. Hernandez-Alonso, A. R. Almeida, G. P. M. van Klink, F. Kapteijn and G. Mul
   Isoreticular MOFs as efficient photocatalysts with tunable bandgap: an Operando FTIR study of the photo-induced oxidation of propylene
   ChemSusChem Communications 2008, 1, 981-983.
6. J. Gascon, S. Aguado and F. Kapteijn
   Manufacture of dense coatings of Cu3(BTC)3 (HKUST-1) on α-alumina
   Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 2008, 113, 132-138.

May

Jelan Kuhn cum laude doctor May 18th Jelan Kuhn defended successfully his PhD thesis ‘Zeolite Membranes: Ozone detemplation, Modeling and Performance Characterization’. He received the ‘Cum Laude’ distinction, which is only awarded for the top 5% students, for his outstanding work on a broad range of topics related to the application of membranes. [Summary and introduction]

January

Jorge Gascon appointed assistant professor
Per 2009 dr. Jorge Gascon has been appointed assistant professor in the Catalysis Engineering group. In 2006 Jorge Gascon received his PhD (cum laude) in Zaragoza (Spain) on the development of ‘Two-zones fluidized bed reactors for the valorization of hydrocarbons’. He worked as post-doc in Delft in the framework of the consortium ‘Anorganische Membraantechnologie’ coordinated by ECN.
Jorge will focus on the development of structured microporous catalysts and membranes based on zeolites and hybrid organic-inorganic frameworks. His most recent papers in this field are:

• S. Couck, J.F.M. Denayer, G.V. Baron, T. Remy, J. Gascon, and F. Kapteijn, An Amine-Functionalized MIL-53 Metal Organic Framework with Large Separation Power for CO2 and CH4 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131 (2009) 6326-6327.
• J. Gascon, U. Aktay, M.D. Hernandez-Alonso, G.P.M. van Klink, and F. Kapteijn, Amino-based metal-organic frameworks as stable, highly active basic catalysts J. Catal. 261 (2009) 75-87.
• J. Gascon, M.D. Hernandez-Alonso, A.R. Almeida, G.P.M. van Klink, F. Kapteijn, and G. Mul, Isoreticular MOFs as Efficient Photocatalysts with Tunable Band Gap: An Operando FTIR Study of the Photoinduced Oxidation of Propylene ChemSusChem 1 (2008) 981-983.

2008

October 

David Vervloet wins NPS8 poster award  

At the 8^th Netherlands Process Technology Symposium in Veldhoven, 27-29 October 2008, David Vervloet won the award for the best poster presentation, € 2250 to be spent on conference participation, for his contribution ‘Heat Transfer Properties of Structured Packings for Biofuel Production via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis’. This is a Green and Sustainable Process Technology project (GSPT) in collaboration with the Kramer’s lab TUD and Shell.

David continues herewith our NPS award winning tradition.

October

Jorge Gascon receives poster award at NAPEN2008 conference    

At the 1^st International workshop of the three European networks of excellence 'Inside Pores', IDECAT and 'Nanomempro', held in Chania, Crete-Greece, Jorge Gascon was awarded one of the poster awards for his contribution 'Amino-based Metal Organic Frameworks as stable, highly active basic catalysts'. Co-authors were  Ugur Aktay, Maria D. Hernandez-Alonso, Gerard van Klink and Freek Kapteijn.

September

Johan van den Bergh receives award from KHMW
   

On September 30th Johan received the first prize of the ‘Nederlandse Gas Industrie Prijs’ for his master thesis ‘Permeation of permanent gases through DD3R membranes’. In the picture, Mr. Verberg congratulates Johan.

 

July

Prof.dr. Freek Kapteijn appointed Guest-professor in China.-

The Zhejiang Normal University  in Jinhua (Zhejiang province) has appointed Freek Kapteijn as Guest-professor because of is his activities and achievements in the field of Catalysis Engineering. More information can be viewed through the website: http://www.zjnu.cn/news/common/article_show.aspx?article_id=10934

May

Johan van den Bergh’s master thesis awarded by KHMW.-

The first prize of the ‘Nederlandse Gas Industrie Prijs’ is awarded to Johan van den Bergh for his master thesis ‘Permeation of permanent gases through DD3R membranes’. This prize is awarded by the ‘Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen’ to stimulate promising, young students to write a remarkable, special and innovative thesis relevant for the gas industry. The prize consists of a certificate and € 6000,- and will be handed out September 30, 2008.

Johan wrote his thesis in the Catalysis Engineering group in the faculty of Applied Sciences at Delft University of Technology under supervision of dr. Weidong Zhu and prof. dr. Freek Kapteijn. In his thesis he demonstrated how natural gas fields can be purified from carbon dioxide and nitrogen by using zeolite (ceramic) membrane technology.

After his graduation work, he continued his research within the Catalysis Engineering group as a PhD student.

March

Christian Nederlof best NIOK student.-

Christian Nederlof passed the exam of the NIOK course ‘Catalysis, an integrated approach’, held in November 2007 on Schiermonnikoog, as best student of the national and international participants.

2007

PhD Defenses

• Nakul Thakar (Promoters:  F. Kapteijn and J.A. Moulijn)
• Arjen van Miltenburg (Promoters:  F. Kapteijn and J.A. Moulijn)
• Alexandre Ferreira (Promoters:  J.A. Moulijn and A. Bliek)
• Johan Groen (Promoters:   J.A. Moulijn and  J. Perez-Ramirez)
• Martijn Zieverink (Promoters:  J.A. Moulijn and F. Kapteijn)
• Elna McLeary (Promoters:  F. Kapteijn and J.C. Jansen)
• Karen de Lathouder (Promoters:  F. Kapteijn and J.A. Moulijn)

October

Sheida Khajavi wins NPS7 presentation award.

At the 7^th Netherlands Process Technology Symposium in Veldhoven, 29-30 October, Sheida Khajavi won the award for the best student presentation, € 2250 to be spent on conference participation, for her contribution ‘Fischer-Tropsch synthesis with in-situ water removal’. This was based on her research on Sodalite membranes and a recent CPD project carried out with Valerie Wong, Deepak Patil and Nandlal Dokhale. She was also runner-up for the poster award with this design study, as was Asun Quintanilla (‘Enhancement of the stability of Pd/SiO₂ by silylation or Pd silicide formation’).

September

Jorge Gascon received NoE ‘Inside Pores’ poster award.

At the 3^rd workshop of the Inside Pores Network of Excellence ‘New challenges for nanoporous materials’ in Alicante, Spain, 24-26 September, Jorge Gascon received the poster award for his contribution ‘Manufacture of Cu₃(BTC)₂ dense coatings: Synthesizing MOF thin layers’. This research represents the most advanced state of the art in controlling the growth of this new class of microporous hybrid materials on surfaces, with outlook for applications as membranes, protective or antifouling coatings, sensors, heat exchange catalytic surfaces.

February

Senior Moulton Medal for CE paper

The paper "Structured Reactors for Enzyme Immobilization: A Monolithic Stirrer reactor for Application in Organic Media", published in Chemical Engineering Research and Design has been awarded the Senior Moulton Medal. The award is for the best paper published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2006.The authors of the paper are Karen de Lathouder, Jasper Bakker, Michiel Kreutzer, Sandy Wallin, Freek Kapteijn and Jacob Moulijn. The award will be presented at the institution's Annual General Meeting, London, May 17th 2007.

2006

PhD Defenses

• Frans de Bruijn (Promoters F. Kapteijn and P. Jansens)
• Marjo Mittelmeijer-Hazeleger (UVA, Promoters B. Smit and  F. Kapteijn)
• Annemieke van den Berg (Promoters J.C. Jansen and J. Schoonman)
• Maikel Maloncy (Promoters J.A. Moulijn, J.C. Jansen)
• Gerben Hamminga (Promoter J.A. Moulijn)
• Xander Dupain (Promoters J.A. Moulijn , M. Makkee)

 May

ORCS award (travel grant) for Karen de Lathouder
Karen de Lathouder received a travel grant from the American Chemical Society´s Petroleum Research Fund ("ACS-PRF") for innovative work for her contribution : "Development of a monolithic bioreactor: Tailor-made functionalized carriers", by Karen M. de Lathouder, Freek Kapteijn, and Jacob A. Moulijn to the 21st Conference on Catalysis of Organic Reactions, held in Orlando, Florida, USA, April 2-6, 2006.

Mehul Thathagar won award for best poster At the 7th Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Conference, 6-8 March 2006, Mehul Thathagar has won the award for best poster with his poster "Proof of Leaching in Cluster-Catalysed Coupling Reactions"