Reaction Mechanisms

Prof. Evgenii Kondratenko

Task

Stimulated by the challenges for sustainable development, our research activities are focused on the development of heterogeneous catalysts and reactor operation concepts for efficient processes based on current and alternative raw materials. The emphasis is put on understanding of

  1. structure of active sites/phases/species
  2. fundamentals for their purposeful creation
  3. reaction mechanism on the level as elementary as possible
  4. structure-activity-selectivity relationships

 

Scientific approach

We prepare bulk or supported materials with a special focus put on generation of well-defined crystalline structures (including defects) or supported metal or metal oxide species of a certain speciation (ranging from single atoms to nanoclusters). The developed catalysts are tested under industrially relevant conditions. Advanced mechanistic and spatially resolved steady-state kinetic studies, steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA), temporal analysis of products (TAP) combined with isotopic tracers as well as operando time- and spatially resolved spectroscopic studies are applied to establish structure-performance relationships.

 

 

Application fields

We study both well-established large-scale processes and challenging reactions using alternative raw materials. They include:

  1. non-oxidative dehydrogenation of propane or isobutane to propene or isobutene
  2. metathesis of ethylene and 2-butenes
  3. ammonia oxidation to nitric oxide (Ostwald process)
  4. oxidative coupling of ammonia and methane to hydrogen cyanide (Andrussow process)
  5. methane oxidation to ethylene and ethane (OCM)
  6. selective oxidation of ethane, propane or isobutane
  7. carbon dioxide hydrogenation to higher hydrocarbons
  8. carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol