We are a research group established in 2021 at TU Wien working on the intersection of the fields of catalysis and chemical engineering. Our research focuses on the development of novel catalytic materials and reactors for the sustainable production of chemicals. Our main objective is to generate new strategies in thermal catalysis, encompassing the catalyst nanostructure, the reaction conditions and reactor design, to overcome the current limitations of implementation of sustainable processes.

In a circular economy, reactors and catalysts must be capable to adapt to changing feedstock and reaction conditions while keeping optimal activity and selectivity to key products. We investigate the properties and performance of multifunctional catalysts based on the combination of metal oxides, acid zeolites and metal ions hosted in zeolites.

Activity and selectivity of the materials in relationship with the relevant steps of catalytic mechanisms are evaluated by catalytic tests at lab-scale reactors and temperature-programmed surface reactions. In situ and operando spectroscopies allow monitoring the dynamics of active surfaces and their response to changing chemical potentials.

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Presenting our Research on Self-Heating Catalysts

News

[Translate to English:] Stelios presenting his work

+++ 24.09.2025: Some news on our self-heating catalysts +++

Quite the achievement(s) for our team member Stylianos Spyroglou, opens an external URL in a new window! Earlier this year, we filed our patent on WIPO under the reference number PCT/AT2025/060225. Do you want to hear more about it? Then check out the promotional video which was created with the help of Mr. Alfred Zacharias. A few weeks ago, Stelios shared his latest research results with the broader catalysis community at the 16th European Congress on Catalysis in Trondheim, Norway. There he gave a talk about "stabilisation strategies of self-heating catalysts for CO2 conversion to syngas with magnetic induction heating", which was well received by the audience. Congrats!

[Translate to English:] Abstract

+++ 22.07.2025: New Paper in JACS Au +++

We have a new paper published in JACS Au, titled “Isolated Ni2+ Cations as the Active Centers for 1-Butene Dimerization in Zeolites”! In this collaboration with TU Munich, we used different Ni2+-containing zeolites with small, medium, and large pore sizes as catalysts in dimerizing 1-butene to octenes and saw two orders of magnitude increased activity for the large-pore zeolite Y which stabilizes the bulky transition states. A nice story to read through, which you can do for free in open access here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacsau.5c00461, opens an external URL in a new window

Portait Noemie (links) und Enora (rechts)

+++ 12.06.2025: We have new MSc students, again +++

 

We welcome our two new Master students from France: Noemie and Enora! They will work in our CO2 utilization projects on Cu-based tandem catalysts and Fe-based self-heating catalysts, respectively. Bienvenue à Vienne!