From Power2Hype to the scientific community

Researchers from Wageningen University, who are developing catalysts within package 2, have showcased their findings to the scientific community regarding the use of carbon in catalysis. Pedro Mazaira Couce, PhD student at WUR, presented two posters—one at the National Catalysis and Chemistry Conference (NCCC) and another at the Electrochemical Conversion National Symposium (ECCNS). In his posters, he showed that the performance of carbon based catalyst developed in the Project2hype project for the electrochemical production of H₂O₂ critically depends on the nature of the oxygen-groups on the carbon. Pedro found a significant increase in catalyst activity and selectivity by augmenting the surface’s alcohol and phenol oxygen groups while reducing carboxylic acid groups. Understanding the role of oxygen in carbon during the electrochemical conversion of hydrogen peroxide could be crucial for developing more economical and environmentally friendly catalysts in the future.

Furthermore, Professor Harry Bitter has authored a review paper discussing the role of carbon in heterogeneous catalysis, titled “Dark Material with a Bright Future: Carbon as Support in Heterogeneous Catalysis – A Short Personal Perspective,” published in Catalysis Today, 423 (2023) 114015. This review explores the many possibilities of carbon both as a catalyst and as a support in various fields, such as glucose and starch oxidation or CO₂ capture.

Read the paper here.