Heat in the driver’s seat: unlocking the full potential of pulsed photothermal catalysis

Introduction

The climate catastrophe urgently calls for greening and intensifying chemical reactors. Most chemical reactors use catalysts to speed up reactions, but their operation at steady-state temperature impairs rate, selectivity, and energy efficiency. To go beyond these limitations, applying short heat pulses theoretically leads to >100 higher reaction yield, lower energy use, and a controlled product distribution. However, pulsed heating has remained out of reach because it is hard to heat catalysts selectively and fast enough.

Project Overview

I break this paradigm and take control of dynamic thermo-catalysis by using light pulses and robust plasmonic materials that convert light to heat with nanoscale specificity. HEATPULSE comprises three work packages that tackle three challenges:

1. Kinetics: Modulate pulse timing for controlling reaction rate and selectivity.
2. Localization: Confine heat at thermal hotspots to boost energy efficiency.
3. Stability and Performance: Access high peak reaction rates by developing temperature-stable pulsed photocatalysts.

Ground-breaking Innovations

The project introduces several innovative concepts:

1. Access to a normally unreachable reaction landscape, with dynamic tunability of catalyst activity and selectivity.
2. Thermal hotspots break the limit of nanoscale heating and reach 3 higher peak temperatures with exponentially enhanced rates.
3. Metal nitride nano-arrays integrated with single-atom catalysts grant thermal stability beyond 1000 °C.

Conclusion

HEATPULSE represents a revolution in green reactor technology by shifting from burning fossil fuels to heat-pulsing with light, powered by renewables. The project will lead to the new field of photocatalysis beyond the steady-state at the crossroads of catalysis, nanophotonics, and materials science. With an accomplished track record in nanoscale light-driven chemistry, and as a pioneer in the field of pulsed catalysis at both experimental and theoretical levels, I am uniquely suited to unlock the full potential of pulsed photothermal catalysis.