Design, implementation and production upscaling of novel, high-performance, cluster-based catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation

Project Information

CATCHY

Grant agreement ID: 955650

DOI

10.3030/955650

Project closed

EC signature date 19 August 2020

Start date 1 November 2020

End date 28 February 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 3 729 508,56

EU contribution

€ 3 729 508,56

Coordinated by

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CATCHY (Design, implementation and production upscaling of novel, high-performance, cluster-based catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation)

Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The conversion of CO2 into methanol and C2 products (ethanol, ethylene...) by thermochemical hydrogenation and electrochemical reactions offers a tremendous opportunity to secure our future. Due the high stability of the CO2 molecule, more performant catalysts are required to make this process viable.
CATCHY was a multidisciplinary ETN funded by the European Commission's H2020 program with as goals designing novel high performance CO2 conversion thermo- and electro-catalysts based on gas-phase metal clusters and training interdisciplinary young researchers in nanotechnology.

The Beneficiaries
1. KU LEUVEN, Belgium (Ewald Janssens, Didier Grandjean, Peter Lievens)
2. BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOLOGT AND ECONOMICS, Hungary (László Nyulászi)
3. TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK, Denmark (Christian D. Damsgaard, Jakob Kibsgaard)
4. TEER COATINGS LTD, United Kingdom (Jinlong Yin, Hailin Sun)
5. PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE, Switzerland (Olga Safonova, Juan Herranz Salaner, Maarten Nachtegaal)
6. ULM UNIVERSITY, Germany (Sandra Lang)
7. FURUKAWA ELECTRIC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Hungary (Tibor Höltzl)
8. UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP, Belgium (Sara Bals, Thomas Altantzis)
9. RADBOUD UNIVERSITY, The Netherlands (Joost Bakker)
10. VITO, Belgium (Deepak Pant, Jan Vaes)
Partners: HERAEUS GMBH & CO. KG, Germany (Christian Gebauer), ETH ZÜRICH, Switzerland (Christophe Copéret)

The research fellows: 14 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) (504 months) of 12 different nationalities with backgrounds in Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology with a gender balance of 36% Female, 64% Male.

The main training objective of Catsense was to delivered nanotechnology experts with multi-level interdisciplinary and intersectorial skills.
The main scientific objective of CATCHY was to design novel high performance catalysts by a new interactive approach combining:
• Production of mono- and bi-metallic gas-phase clusters, nanoparticles and thin films of controlled homogeneity,
• Extensive ex and in situ, operando characterization of their morphology, structure and electronic properties,
• Theoretical modelling of free and deposited cluster structure and reactivity paths,
• Use free-cluster approaches to study elementary reaction processes on model systems,
• Thermo- and Electro-catalytic laboratory tests.
• Prototyping of the most promising electrocatalyst in realistic operative conditions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The successful outcome of the project was based on a strong collaboration between the 6 academic and 4 industrial partners, supported by 9 Supervisory Board meetings organized every 6 months, and a large interdisciplinary and an extensive intersectorial secondment scheme (59 person months). The research was organized in 5 work packages (WP).
WP1 has allowed the deposition of monometallic and bimetallic Au, Ag, Pd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Ga -based gas-phase clusters, nanoparticles and thin films on a large variety of silicon and carbon-based flat supports and powders using different types of complementary laser ablation and magnetron-sputtering cluster beam and thin films deposition systems. These materials were extensively characterized ex- and in situ in WP2 by a unique combination of advanced techniques including electron microscopy, ambient XPS and X-ray absorption spectroscopy at various synchrotrons using novel dedicated operando grazing incidence gas-flow and electrochemical cells developed in this project. WP3 has extensively developed the theoretical understanding of the electronic and catalytic properties of few-atom monometallic Cu, CuOx, Pd, Co and bimetallic CuZn and CuPd deposited and free-clusters. In parallel WP4 investigated the structure and reactivity of CuOx and VCon bi-metal-oxide free-clusters towards CO2 by mass spectrometry and advanced IR spectroscopy. WP5 demonstrated the exceptional thermo- and electrocatalytic properties of several types of cluster, nanoparticle and thin film modified carbon paper. A novel high-pressure gas-flow microreactor dedicated to testing ultra-small amounts of catalysts on flat substrates was successfully developed within the project. The first prototype of a gas diffusion CME-EC electrode was tested in realistic operative condition.

7 network-wide training activities were organized: Kick-off training on thermo- and electro-catalysts (Leuven, Belgium, Sep 2021); 3 Catchy schools on computational methods, and catalysis and operando characterization techniques (Budapest, Hungary, Apr 2022; Gilleleje, Denmark Aug 2022; Villigen, Switzerland, May 2023); Catchy’s ISSPIC satellite meeting (Berlin, Germany, Aug 2023); ClusterCat 2024 (conference organized by the ESRs to explore advancements in the field of cluster-based catalysts, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Jan 2024); and a career launch workshop (online Apr 2024)

Dissemination
• 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 15+ additional papers that are submitted or in preparation.
• Catchy fellows have made 43 presentations (poster or oral) at international conferences and 17 at workshops (outside Catchy).
• Catchy fellows have taken part in 23 outreach events and made many contributions to social media LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
• Each ESR has made a three-minute microdoc video which is available in a dedicated Catchy You Tube Channel at www.youtube.com/@catchyetnproject6091/videos that has reached more than 900 views.
• Catchy website at www.catchy-etn.eu that centralized the network information, recruitment, and the registrations for events, has been visited more than 200,000 times by visitors in majority from the USA, France, Belgium, Germany, UK, China, Japan and India who have viewed a total of more than 2,000,000 pages.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Due to recent political events, catalysis is becoming even more crucial for the European economy and its sustainable future than it was five years ago. Catchy ETN has created cluster-based thermo- and electro-catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into added-value synthetic materials with a catalysis-by-design approach, based on advances in our atomic-scale understanding, analytical and in situ/in operando tools, and computational methods. The techniques and the materials that have been developed are useful for further exploitation. Novel operando cells will be used in future collaborative projects and are made available for the users of the Swiss Light Source and other synchrotrons. The new microreactor dedicated for ultra-small amount of catalyst on flat substrates will strongly facilitate the design of new model catalysts based on gas-phase nanoclusters. Based on their strong expertise built during this project, Catchy partners are now actively developing new collaborative projects between partners to identify and pursue follow-up collaborative research projects, capitalizing on Catchy results to advance TRLs and further valorize them. From an industrial point of view, this project has allowed identifying cases such as GDE electrodes for CO2 electrolysers where clusters outperform other existing technologies, seeking further industrial partnerships with the support of CATCHY industry-related partners TCL, FETI, VITO, Heraeus. Catchy fellows developed excellent communication skills, high-level interdisciplinary training, expertise in working with very sensitive technical equipment and resilience to work under pressure, which are excellent assets in their future professional careers. Four ESRs have already found a research position in the industry.

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