Address
Building: Sammelbau Chemie
Room: 38C 319
Worringerweg 2
52074 Aachen
Research
NOx-emissions (NO and NO2) produced by diesel engines are a big threat to humans and the environment. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) is a technology to eliminate NOx by using a reducing agent and catalyst to reduce NO to nitrogen. Currently ammonia is used as a reducing agent in stationary and mobile Applications for the NH2-SCR. But especially the use in cars and lorries poses the issue of the cold start problem, in which the conversion of NO is only catalyzed at certain temperatures and especially at starting phases NOx -emissions are emitted unhindered. Based on that, the search for alternative methods is very important
One possibility is the H2-SCR. H2-SCR utilizes hydrogen as a reducing agent and allows for a reduction below 200 °C. Because of the formation of the greenhouse gas N2O as a possible byproduct in this method, the use of highly selective catalysts to form N2 is required.
Cobalt-based perovskites are already applied in fields of catalysis and fuel cell technology. First studies of the materials (as pure or support material) for H2-SCR suggest a superior N2-selektivity compared to "conventional" noble metal catalysts.
Yet, we are still lacking a deeper understanding of the influence of electronic properties and changes in the composition of perovskites in reductive reactions.
research focus:
- Synthesis and characterisation of cobalt-based perovskites
- Investigation of catalysts in the H2-SCR
- Additional experiments regarding the suitability of perovskites in reduction reactions