The ultimate goal in the development of more efficient catalytic technologies is to combine selectivity, productivity, robustness and ease of processing on the highest possible level. For this purpose, new approaches to integrate molecular catalysis into heterogeneous systems are required. This H2-SMS-CAT project aims to establish homogeneous catalysis in heterogeneous systems in the temperature range of 200°C to 500°C. The project will focus on the engineering of Supported Molten Salt catalysts, i.e. materials that contain as the catalytic active film a eutectic molten salt mixture which is immobilized on the high internal surface of an inorganic support. Within the project, the H2-SMS-CAT technology will be exemplified for selected dehydrogenation reactions and hydrogen production technologies. The proposed demonstrator applications are of great technical relevance in the context of hydrogen storage and transportation technologies and for catalytic alkane activation.
Our team is ideally suited to undertake this venture. We are excited by the idea to combine our top-level expertise in ionic liquid/molten salt chemistry, organometallics and reaction engineering to unlock high temperature applications for molecular defined, homogeneous, high temperature dehydrogenation catalysis. The project will cover aspects of support material engineering, catalytic eutectics development, catalyst and reactor design as well as mechanistic and spectroscopic investigations. In case of success, the outcome of this project will be of fundamental relevance for the whole field of catalysis. New insight into the nature of operating catalytic materials can be expected from a detailed comparison of classical metal-on-support catalysts with our new H2-SMS-CAT systems.