Catalysts Allowing Liquid Fuel Production

In collaboration with Milo Shaffer (Imperial College London) we investigate the application of colloidal nanoparticles as catalysts for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. We have reported systems comprising ZnO/Cu, ZnO/Cu2O, PdIn and Pd2Ga as active and selective catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol. These transformations may be useful to produce future dense energy carriers and as methods to recycle carbon dioxide. In collaboration with teams in engineering, we continue to discover new catalysts, including those which are photochemically activated, to investigate the optimum processes for dense energy carrier production and to characterize, under operando conditions, the species present during catalysis.