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ATOMic Insight Cavity Array Reactor

Objective

The goal of ATOMICAR is to achieve the ultimate sensitivity limit in heterogeneous catalysis:
Quantitative measurement of chemical turnover on a single catalytic nanoparticle.

Most heterogeneous catalysis occurs on metal nanoparticle in the size range of 3 nm - 10 nm. Model studies have established that there is often a strong coupling between nanoparticle size & shape - and catalytic activity. The strong structure-activity coupling renders it probable that “super-active” nanoparticles exist. However, since there is no way to measure catalytic activity of less than ca 1 million nanoparticles at a time, any super-activity will always be hidden by “ensemble smearing” since one million nanoparticles of exactly identical size and shape cannot be made. The state-of-the-art in catalysis benchmarking is microfabricated flow reactors with mass-spectrometric detection, but the sensitivity of this approach cannot be incrementally improved by six orders of magnitude. This calls for a new measurement paradigm where the activity of a single nanoparticle can be benchmarked – the ultimate limit for catalytic measurement.

A tiny batch reactor is the solution, but there are three key problems: How to seal it; how to track catalytic turnover inside it; and how to see the nanoparticle inside it? Graphene solves all three problems: A microfabricated cavity with a thin SixNy bottom window, a single catalytic nanoparticle inside, and a graphene seal forms a gas tight batch reactor since graphene has zero gas permeability. Catalysis is then tracked as an internal pressure change via the stress & deflection of the graphene seal. Crucially, the electron-transparency of graphene and SixNy enables subsequent transmission electron microscope access with atomic resolution so that active nanoparticles can be studied in full detail.

ATOMICAR will re-define the experimental limits of catalyst benchmarking and lift the field of basic catalysis research into the single-nanoparticle age.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-STG

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Host institution

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 496 000,00
Address
ANKER ENGELUNDS VEJ 101
2800 KONGENS LYNGBY
Denmark

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Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Københavns omegn
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 496 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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