Catalysis and Future Electricity Technology: What is the Connection?

2016-10-18

Hans Niemantsverdriet

10:00am 21 of October (Friday) 2016

Hall C of Conference Center

Brief Introduction

Future generation of electricity by solar and wind will increasingly become more decentralized and be subject to the intermittency of climate conditions. At the same time high-energy density fuels will stay as a necessity for heavy duty and air transportation, while such fuels are also excellent media for storage of energy. Electrocatalytic decomposition of water and probably also carbon dioxide followed by catalysis for the production of fuels will become crucially important. For China, such technology will even offer opportunities for the responsible and clean utilization of coal, with carbon emissions equivalent to those of natural gas utilization. The lecture will address the materials science aspects of catalysis for the decomposition of water, and the generation of synthetic fuels.