Microporous oxyhydrides

Research Project, 2025 – 2028

Sweden has the ambition to be one of the first western countries that becomes independent on fossil resources, which requires closed carbon cycles in the chemical industry. This project aims at developing synthesis routes for preparation of microporous perovskite type oxyhydrides (ATiO3-xHx with A = Ba, Sr, Ca and x < 0.6) to be used as active carrier for catalytic  palladium, rhodium and copper nanoparticles designed for conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable hydrocarbons. Oxyhydride carriers will influence the chemical properties of the supported metal particles and provide active hydride surface species facilitating the hydrogenation reaction(s). Special attention is paid to exploring the possibility of creating microporous channel networks with functionality similar to those found in zeolites, which will provide fundamentally new opportunities for selective hydrogenation of hydrocarbons through the combination of molecular sieving and heterogeneous catalysis under nano-confinement conditions.The project is a collaboration between the group of Prof. Per-Anders Carlsson (Chalmers), with expert knowledge in synthesis, evaluation and operando characterisation of catalysts with infrared spectroscopy and X-ray spectroscopy/scattering, and that of Prof. Maths Karlsson (Chalmers)  with expert knowledge in materials physics and studies of hydrogen dynamics using neutron scattering techniques. International large-scale facilities (MAX IV, PETRA III, ESRF and ILL) will be used.