News

We are thrilled to announce that our PI THomas Sheppard started his new position as Full Professor at TU Wien (link to press release)! There, he will continue his research on heterogeneous catalysis, the application of X-ray imaging for chemical processes and sustainable chemistry, in particular CO₂ conversion and power-to-X technologies. Congratulations!

We are very happy to announce that our Collaborative Research Center 1441 TrackAct will be continued for four more years! Our new projects and PIs will be announced in the coming days in the research tab. More information can be found in the official press releases of DFG and KIT.

The EuropaCat 2025 - 16th European Congress on Catalysis is approaching and we are thrilled to announce that Prof. Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt will give a plenary talk. Besides, of course further contributions of TrackAct are planned. Curious? Check out the EuropaCat homepage for more updates:

Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Barbara A. J. Lechner (TU München) on winning the Ernst Haage Prize for Chemistry 2024. The prize is awarded annually to young scientists who have made an exceptional achievement in the field of chemistry. Registration for the ceremony is possible via the link below.

Our colleagues in projects A3/B1, A4, B2, B3, B4 developed a concept that increases the stability of noble metal clusters against sintering and redispersion for highly active and stable emission control catalysts. The inspiring study has been published as a "Very Important Paper" in the journal Angewandte Chemie (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202408511). 

How do catalysts work and what do they look like during the reaction? These are the key questions for the development of efficient catalytic processes, the understanding of which is the ultimate goal of TrackAct.

The TrackAct Autumn school, titled 'From Model to Application - Trends in Emission Reduction,' held at TUM, proved to be an enriching week for the PhDs specializing in emission control. It featured a series of captivating scientific lectures that seamlessly transitioned from the fundamental aspects of catalysts to their practical applications.

Exploring the atomic scale dynamics to in situ characterization of complex model and technical catalysts; discussing catalysts as enablers of sustainability to making them sustainable, and finally, the critical factors on transcending the fundamental knowledge to industrial applications. Adding to this, an industry visit to 'Clariant' and informative lectures on industry-focused research served as the cherry on top, effectively bridging the gap between theory and practice, and strengthening our dedication to our respective fields of study.

Another key focus of the school was the inclusion of a few career-oriented minutes by all the scientific lecturers. These discussions provided invaluable insights into the array of career possibilities available to PhD graduates, offering valuable guidance and support for our future endeavors.

Congratulations to our TrackAct PhDs Shweta Sharma and Rinu Chacko for their not only great, but even award-winning presentations in the YounGeCats poster workshop!

Gratulations and welcome to Prof. Dr. Moritz Wolf and his group to our CRC TrackAct! The proposal “Inductive heating of catalysts and novel reactor designs” by Prof. Dr. Moritz Wolf (IKFT, KIT) won the second CRC1441 call "Promotion & association of new junior group research leaders". We are looking forward to many fruitful collaborations and new impulses!

Congratulations to Thomas Sheppard! The whole CRC congratulates to Prof. Dr. Thomas Sheppard on his new position as Interim Professor at Institute of Chemical Technology in Leipzig! In his new position, he and his group will continue their exciting work on in situ and operando chemical imaging of catalysts with synchrotron radiation.

With her proposal “Support engineering for the stabilization of single-atom catalysts”, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Schirin Hanf (IOC, KIT) won the CRC1441 call “Promotion and association of new junior group research leaders”. We are very happy to welcome Prof. Hanf and M.Sc. Fabian Rang to our CRC and look very much forward to new collaborations and insights to single atom catalysts!

On the 11.07.2022 Dr. Thomas Sheppard gave his introduction lecture to the Chemistry Faculty at KIT with the title “New Dimensions in Catalysis and Chemical Technology with X-ray Imaging”

On Thursday, 23.06.2022, Prof. Dr. Silke Behrens gave her inaugural lecture as GDCh talk on the topic: “Nanoparticles in Materials Science: From Model Catalysts to Magnetic Hybrid Materials". Congratulations from the whole CRC!

With over 40 stunning talks, 113 beautiful posters and nearly 250 participants, the CataLysis Networking Conference 2022 was a huge success! We hope that many of the fruitful and vivid discussions will contribute to further exchange between the CRCs/TRRs. Thanks to all participants, chair persons, the microphone helpers, the La Strada Team and also JS Medientechnik for enabling this great event!

Invited talk by Dr. Thomas Sheppard during the Brazilian LNLS annual users meeting from November 8th - 9th, 2022.

Invited talk by Dr. Thomas Sheppard on June 30th, 2022.

The CataLysis Conference 2022 will bring together the communities of the German DFG-funded collaborative research centers (CRCs) or Transregios (TRRs) working within the field of catalysis. Up to 400 participants form the CataLysis CRCs will have the chance to exchange on their latest fascinating research and to discuss interdisciplinary topics like F.A.I.R. research data (together with NFDI4Cat). Furthermore, we will have amazing, selected talks (four per CRC), presented in two parallel sessions, every project will have the chance to present a poster and we will provide a panel for networking for early-career group leaders.

The CRC 1441 kickoff meeting took place from October 11th to 13th, 2021 in Freudenstadt.

Press release by pro-physik.de on October 7th, 2021.

Press release by SN on July 2nd, 2021.

Press release by KIT on September 22nd, 2020.

Our colleagues from A02 studied the thermal decomposition of Pt17(CO)12(PPh3)82 to understand the changes during activation. Using mass spectrometry and surface science, they discovered that CO and benzene are released at higher energies, followed by H2 loss, indicating Pt-catalyzed C-H activation during partial ligand shell stripping. Check out their fascinating study!

How to glue together few atoms? In their new study, our coworkers from B02, B03, B04 have demonstrated a new concept how ceria islands can be used to facilitate the formation of Pd clusters. The innovative work was also highlighted in a press release!

How does the alloy composition and atomic arrangement of Pd/Pt nanoparticles influence CO adsorption and IR band frequencies, and what is the impact of hydrogen adsorption on these surfaces? Check out the new publication by our colleagues in A05 here.

In their study, our colleagues from project A04, A01 and A02 investigated the role of hydrogen atoms in the stability of cuboctahedral platinum cage structure of Pt12H24- clusters using a combination of trapped ion electron diffraction technique and density functional theory computations.

Selective oxidation of NH3 to N2 represent the desired reaction pathway for NH3 elimination. Using a combination of complementary spectroscopic techniques in combination with theoretical calculations, our colleagues were able to reveal the correlation between the different Pt states and the reaction selectivity.

To compare the catalytic activity over large complexity and pressure ranges, the determination of the turnover frequency (TOF) is essential. Our colleagues from A2 critically investigated the influence of different experimental parameters on the observed TOF values of UHV-based model systems of different complexity in their newest study. Congratulations!

Congratulations to our Projects B1, B2, B3, C1 and C2 for their recent study on "TiO2-CeOx-Pt Hollow Nanosphere Catalyst for Low-Temperature CO Oxidation". New synthesis strategy for hollow nanospheres already lead to active materials and is a promisong concept for future emission control catalysts.

Congratulations to C1! The nice review on supercritical fluid reactive deposition was even chosen as exciting cover page.

Congratulations to Keller et al. on their new study: "Methane oxidation over PdO: Towards a better understanding of the influence of the support material"

In their newest review, our colleagues from C1 gave an overview  of experimental and modeling studies work for the supercritical fluid reactive deposition. A correlation of the experimental data with different isotherm models as well as new strategies for future application of the methods are reported.

Congratulations to Florian Maurer et al. to their study published in ACS Catal.: "Surface Noble Metal Concentration on Ceria as a Key Descriptor for Efficient Catalytic CO Oxidation"

Congratulations to Bjarne Kreitz et al. to their study published in ACS Catal.: "Detailed Microkinetics for the Oxidation of Exhaust Gas Emissions through Automated Mechanism Generation"