Understanding the functioning of catalytic materials is an essential part of both academic and industrial research. In the past decades different approaches have been developed, thereby often making use of analytical techniques. Whereas in the 1980s and 1990s the attention was mainly on studying catalyst materials before and after their use in a chemical reactor (pre-natal and post-mortem catalyst characterization), in the last two decades the attention has been towards studying the catalyst materials during their use in a chemical reactor. This approach has been coined operando spectroscopy, thereby making the explicit use of an additional analytical technique, such as gas chromatography or mass spectroscopy to evaluate the catalyst performance under realistic reaction conditions. By doing so, relevant structure-composition-performance relationships can be developed, which can lead to the design and making of new or better solid catalysts for a particular chemical process. In this lecture, I will start with a historic overview of the field of operando spectroscopy, thereby illustrating the need for such analytical approach. In a second part, the design of operando spectroscopy cells will be discussed and different good and less good spectroscopy cell designs will be discussed. A third part will focus on the influence of laser and X-ray light as well as electrons on the sample, while measuring it under realistic reaction conditions. The overall message is that measuring implies catalyst perturbance and it is important to realize that temperature differences as well as local catalyst damage may occur during operando spectroscopy measurements. Different showcases from our work will be an integral part of the fourth part of the lecture, while the last part will sketch some future directions on where the field of operando spectroscopy is heading. Based on this, a roadmap towards more advanced operando spectroscopy studies can be made.​

Bert M. Weckhuysen, Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; b.m.weckhuysen@uu.nl

As we wish to gradually transform our society in a more sustainable and circular one, it is important to revisit our main chemical production facilities, thereby aiming to build the so-called refinery of the future. This requires a.o. new needs from a chemistry and chemical engineering point of view, including the development of new or improved catalyst materials as well as novel reactor concepts, thereby increasingly making use of green electrons and sustainably resourced hydrogen. For example, for the catalytic activation of small molecules, such as CO₂, one of the main questions to answer involves the coupling of carbon fragments, originating from CO₂, either produced at point sources, or harvested from direct air capture units. The goal is to manufacture increasingly complex carbon-containing molecules from CO₂ – or the related molecule CO - instead of making them from crude oil fractions and natural gas. This requires a profound knowledge of the physicochemical processes taking place at the catalytic surface of both thermo- and electrocatalytic activation processes of CO₂, as well as of the subsequent chemical conversion processes in which carbon monoxide (Fischer-Tropsch synthesis), methane (via C-H activation to make e.g. olefins and aromatics) and methanol (methanol-to-hydrocarbons process) are used. Coupling of different chemical processes thereby handling a.o. intermittency of feedstock is therefore important to explore. Next to pasting smaller molecules, such as CO₂ and CO, together, we also have to learn more how to cut larger molecules into useful chemicals and fuels. That requires that we know how to selectively convert biomass (e.g., lignin, chitin, and (hem-)cellulose) into base chemicals, as well as how we have to efficiently process plastic waste to strive for a closed carbon cycle. These new feedstocks also come with new and/or different impurities. Our current catalyst materials are not yet sufficiently robust to handle this complex feedstock and hence catalyst materials stability is an important research area to further focus on. This is the topic of this lecture, in which I will discuss different old and new thermocatalytic and electrocatalytic materials for cutting renewable resources, including plastic and biomass waste into useful chemicals, as well as for pasting small molecules, including CO and CO₂, into larger hydrocarbons. The lecture will end with an outlook on what is needed to realize the refinery of the future in the next few decades, and what the boundary conditions are in terms of location, size, and capital investments to make this possible.  

Bert M. Weckhuysen, Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis group, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, the Netherlands; b.m.weckhuysen@uu.nl

Transitions in sustainability to make our society more circular need professionals with specific skills and attitudes that students often do not develop in their regular chemistry or chemical engineering education. To foster sustainability change-maker competencies, we suggest augmenting higher education curricula, e.g., chemical degree programs, with transdisciplinary challenge-based learning combined with design thinking. The Da Vinci Project at Utrecht University explores this approach, aiming to cultivate the undergraduates’ sustainability change-maker competencies. After more than five years of experience, we are now in the position to reflect on the students’ learning outcomes in this Utrecht University honors program. We conclude that transdisciplinary challenge-based education combined with design thinking provides unique opportunities for students with various educational backgrounds to develop valuable new skills and attitudes for navigating sustainability transitions, including the transition toward sustainable chemistry. These involve collaboration, communication, creative thinking, integrative problem-solving, stakeholder engagement, openness, empathy, the ability to deal with uncertainty and complexity, self-awareness, critical reflection, courage, and perseverance. This lecture will discuss the motivation, history, creation as well as roll-out of the Da Vinci Project, first at the Bachelor level, and more recently also at the Master level, at Utrecht University.

Bert M. Weckhuysen, Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis group, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, the Netherlands; b.m.weckhuysen@uu.nl