The Disputation will be live streamed for everyone else.
The livestream will be activated 15 minutes before the Defence starts.
Trial lecture
August 11th, 10:15 AM, Auditorium 3, Chemistry building
Trial lecture title:
"Photocatalysis of methane using non-noble metal oxides"
The trial lecture will be live streamed for everyone else.
The livestream will be activated 15 minutes before the trial lecture starts.
Kreeringssammendrag/Conferral summary
I dette doktorgradsarbeidet har vi undersøkt en foreslått reaksjon for konvertering av små hydrokarboner, alkaner, som skal kunne senke energikravet i forhold til dagens bearbeidingsmetoder og på den måten øke utnyttelsen av naturgass og biogass. Reaksjonen konverterer alkaner direkte til viktige byggesteiner for industrien og skjer via interaksjon med oksygen og kobber-holdige zeolitter. Ved hjelp av et arsenal av karakteriseringsteknikker har vi fått økt innsikt i hvordan kobberforbindelser i zeolitten endrer seg underveis i reaksjonen. Dette arbeidet har bidratt til bedre forståelse for hva som skjer i de enkelte stegene ved direkte konvertering av alkaner og har potensielt medvirket til å gjøre alkaner mer anvendbare i fremtiden.
Main research findings
Direct Conversion of Natural Gas for a More Viable Industry
Due to poor access and energy-intensive conversion reactions, large reservoirs of natural gas are underutilized. Natural gas and biogas mainly contain small and stable hydrocarbons (light alkanes) and could be a more sustainable resource in the nearest future for the chemical industry, compared to coal and oil. However, due to the stability of alkanes, it is notoriously difficult to make specific products, because, in a reaction, the products are usually more reactive, and unwanted by-products are formed. With the help of activity testing and multiple characterization techniques, we have obtained insight into a direct, but stepwise pathway to convert alkanes to functionalized products for the industry that is potentially less energy-demanding than the existing ones. The stepwise pathway proceeds over oxidized Cu ions anchored to porous materials (zeolites) that hinder the reactants and products from interacting. With this approach, there is almost no over-oxidation, although, the product yield per time from this reaction is low. Accordingly, our focus has been on exploring different parts of the reaction to understand the individual steps and how they can be improved. We have obtained more insight into the Cu speciation and found important activity relationships with both zeolite structure and Cu ion reducibility.