Descrizione del progetto
Nuovi catalizzatori per processi di sintesi chimica più ecologici
La transizione verso processi di fabbricazione più sostenibili nell’industria chimica rappresenta una sfida. Gli approcci convenzionali dipendono fortemente da risorse non rinnovabili, il che determina la generazione di una notevole quantità di rifiuti. Vi è pertanto una necessità urgente di sviluppare nuovi catalizzatori migliori, che siano in grado di incrementare l’efficienza delle reazioni chimiche e di ridurre il relativo impatto ambientale. Finanziato dal Consiglio europeo della ricerca, il progetto SAC_2.0 si prefigge di realizzare una nuova classe di catalizzatori, nota come «catalizzatori a singolo atomo», che riescano a ridurre al minimo l’utilizzo di materie prime critiche e risultino adattabili alla sintesi chimica verde. La ricerca si avvarrà di una combinazione di approcci sintetici e chimici per approfondire la struttura e le proprietà di questi materiali. Inoltre, saranno creati nuovi metodi scalabili per la fabbricazione di questi catalizzatori.
Obiettivo
The grand challenge for the chemical industries of the 21st century is the transition to more sustainable manufacturing processes that efficiently use raw materials and eliminate waste. Catalysis engineering is the key enabling technology to drive this transition, and single-atom catalysis is an emerging new approach to catalyst design. However, major questions concerning the local structure of these systems, their reactivity, and their evolution when prepared and structurally integrated into chemical devices are elusive.
This project will address these important scientific gaps, laying the foundation for a new generation of catalysts for CO2 conversion. To unveil their microscale functioning, I will study for the first time the charge transfer taking place before, during, and after reactant adsorption and surface reactivity. This will be done combining synthesis, operando characterizations, microkinetics, and theoretical methods. Then, merging microreactor technology and process intensification, I will manufacture single-atom catalysts in powder and as miniaturized thin films or foams, using new, scalable and greener methods. This will bypass current limitations in terms of efficiency and metal dispersion, and close the gap on challenges related to catalyst-reactor integration, bridging chemical and device engineering. The materials will be validated in the valorization of CO2 to derive structure-function relationships and prove major catalytic improvements under realistic conditions.
Overall, this is a fundamental and interdisciplinary project with ambitious objectives and high-risk/high-gain potential, that will go beyond the traditional pillars of catalysis. The scientific outcomes will provide new perspectives in catalysis and open paths in other fields, such as materials chemistry, green synthesis, and purification science. My pioneering contributions in this field and new proof-of-concept data place me in a unique position to undertake this fundamental study.
Campo scientifico
CORDIS classifica i progetti con EuroSciVoc, una tassonomia multilingue dei campi scientifici, attraverso un processo semi-automatico basato su tecniche NLP.
CORDIS classifica i progetti con EuroSciVoc, una tassonomia multilingue dei campi scientifici, attraverso un processo semi-automatico basato su tecniche NLP.
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-processes
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materialstwo-dimensional nanostructures
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringchemical process engineering
Parole chiave
- Process intensification
- Chemical reaction engineering
- Microreactor technology
- Heterogeneous catalysis
- Single-atom catalysis
- Catalysis engineering
- Catalyst synthesis
- Flow chemistry
- Microreaction technology
- Industrial catalysis
- Surface science
- Nanostructured materials
- Chemical technologies
- Carbon nanomaterials
- Heterogeneous selective hydrogenations
- 2D materials
- Industrial chemistry
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsIstituzione ospitante
20133 Milano
Italia