Devyani Sharma will defend her PhD thesis titled: 'Influence of steps and kinks on CO and hydrogen adsorption, co-adsorption and dissociation on Co single crystal surfaces'.
- Date: 1 May 2025, 11:00h
- Location: Campus TU/e
- Promotor: prof.dr.ir. M.C.M. van de Sanden
Summary:
The conversion of CO and hydrogen into long-chain hydrocarbon molecules through
Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis over a heterogeneous catalyst has recently gained renewed interest in academia as well as in industry as a consequence of the recent surge in demand for clean fuels in a carbon-neutral society. Instead of relying on traditional coal and gas as feedstocks for FT synthesis, sustainable carbon sources such as CO2, agricultural and municipal waste, along with green hydrogen produced via water electrolysis using renewable energy, offer a practical approach towards sustainable hydrocarbon production.
Cobalt catalysts have been widely recognized for its activity in FT synthesis. The experiments in this thesis were carried out on cobalt single crystal surfaces which are structurally well-defined model catalysts. These single crystal surfaces provide a controlled environment with known site concentrations, facilitating the study of the influence of surface structure on reactivity of FTS. To investigate the reactivity of different surface structures, we examined both the flat close-packed Co(0001) surface along with the stepped Co(10¯19) and kinked Co(11¯29) surface. These high Miller index surfaces expose monoatomic steps and kinks, which are separated by closepacked terraces.
Read more on the TU/e website: PhD defense Devyani Sharma
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