News & Events

News

NWO Vici for Atsushi Urakawa and Valeria Garbin

Valeria Garbin and Atsushi Urakawa each have obtained an NWO Vici grant of 1.5 M Euro. This is a highly competitive and prestigious grant, which will enable them to develop an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group for a period of five years. Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers. Learn more about their research. Flow physics of Pickering emulsion reactors for sustainable chemical conversion This project aims to unravel the flow physics of multicomponent, multiphase systems with complex interfaces, which are of emerging interest in areas ranging from advanced materials, to chemical conversion, to airborne disease transmission. These systems straddle the frontier between the field of fluid mechanics, where multicomponent systems are an emerging topic, and the field of colloid & interface science, where complex interfaces formed by surfactants, proteins or colloids can completely govern the overall flow behaviour. Understanding the role of complex interfaces on multicomponent, multiphase fluid mechanics is a formidable challenge because these systems are extremely complex, their phenomenology is very rich, and quantitative measurements are difficult. To overcome this challenge, we will develop a new interdisciplinary approach pushing the boundaries of fluid mechanics, colloid & interface science, and soft matter. Building on the latest advances in these fields, we will develop and integrate novel experimental approaches including in-situ, real-time visualization of concentration fields and advanced microstructure imaging, combined with multiscale modelling. Dr. Valeria Garbin V.Garbin@tudelft.nl As proof of principle, we will apply this new approach to the case of Pickering emulsions for chemical conversion. These water/organic emulsions stabilized by solid particles hold exciting potential as platforms for sustainable chemical processing, promising higher conversion rates and selectivity, and easier catalyst recovery. Despite promising lab-scale findings, industry-scale application of Pickering emulsions is hampered by the current lack of understanding of the flow physics involved. Our new approach will fill this gap in our fundamental description of Pickering emulsion reactors, enabling the development of mechanistic models to predict reactor performance which underpins the future design of a full-scale Pickering emulsion reactor. Operando description of catalytic activity from the reactor-scale gradients Heterogeneous catalysis plays vital roles in the production of chemicals and fuels, environmental protection and as enabler of future technologies towards sustainable and circular development. Innovative catalytic technologies are widely developed; however only a minute fraction of such technologies sees the commercial light after a long R&D of a few decades. With pressing environmental and energy issues we face, acceleration of these technology development and transfer steps are crucial. One major obstacle for this step is the complexity of catalytic processes occurring on different length scales varying from atomic to reactor scales. Ideally, catalytic performance (activity and selectivity) is precisely understood qualitatively in terms of reaction mechanism and quantitatively in terms of intrinsic reaction kinetics. With this information, in theory we can rationally propose novel materials and optimal reaction conditions and reactor types, leading to speed-up and higher success probability of commercialisation. Prof. Atsushi Urakawa A.Urakawa@tudelft.nl With this background, this project aims at methodological development towards acceleration of rational catalytic material and process design based on the information about physicochemical gradients present in catalytic reactors such as the gradients of fluid concentration, catalyst state, type and concentration of surface species, and temperature on the reactor scale. Two operando infrared (IR) spectroscopic methods will be developed; far-IR spectroscopy to study critical steps and chemical bonds during catalytic transformation, and IR emission spectroscopy to study active surface sites/species at high temperatures. Furthermore, by means of operando UV-Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging, fluid concentration, redox state of active metal and support materials and their spatiotemporal gradients will be elucidated. Combining with the gradient information gained by complementary analytical techniques (e.g. spatiotemporal gas sampling, temperature measurements, electronic/geometric structure analysis), catalytic reaction mechanisms and kinetics will be investigated for CO oxidation, CO 2 conversion and methane activation as important case studies. Read here what more is written about it

An optical aptasensor for real-time quantification of Endotoxin

High accuracy monitoring of endotoxin is crucial for food and pharmaceutical products. Endotoxin is a deadly pyrogen, evidenced by the fact that it is a main trigger of sepsis, a disease that accounts for 1 out of 5 deaths in intensive care units. However, current endotoxin detection relies on multistep processes that are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and unsustainable. Here, the work led by Dr. Alina Rwei, together with (then) postdoctoral scholar Vasileios Papadimitriou (ChemE) and visiting PhD student Pancheng Zhu (ChemE), reports an aptamer-based biosensor for the real-time optical detection of endotoxin. In a recent issue of the Journal of the SCIENCE ADVANCES they show that the sensor exhibits high specificity, reliability (i.e., linear concentration to signal profile in logarithmic scale), and reusability for repeated endotoxin measurements. Furthermore, individual endotoxins can be detected by monitoring the color of single AuNPs via a color camera, achieving single-molecule resolution. This platform can potentially advance endotoxin detection to safeguard medical, food, and pharmaceutical products. Dr. Alina Rwei +31 (0)15 27 86153 A.Y.Rwei@tudelft.nl Building 58, F2.470 Van der Maasweg 9 2629 HZ Delft The Netherlands Read the article

Vici for Valeria Garbin, Simon Gröblacher and Atsushi Urakawa

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Delft researchers Valeria Garbin, Simon Gröblacher and Atsushi Urakawa a Vici grant of up to 1.5 million euros. This will enable the laureates to develop an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group for a period of five years. Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers.

NWO Open Technology funding to produce a versatile acid sustainably

The NWO has awarded over 5.3 million euros to six projects through the Open Technology Programme, including the research of Ludovic Jourdin to make products from CO2 and renewable electricity, based on a versatile acid. Apart from the NWO funding, companies and other organisations involved invest 1.1 million euros into the projects.

Electric technology to save energy in drying processes

Scientists of TU Delft and four other Dutch universities join forces to save energy in drying processes. In the ELECTRIFIED project, the researchers will use the power of electricity and electrical fields to develop breakthrough technologies for large energy savings in industrial drying processes.

Major grant boost for new field of cellular agriculture

On 21 October 2022, a government grant worth €60 million was awarded for an ambitious proposal in the field of cellular agriculture, a young discipline that aims to produce animal products such as meat and proteins directly from animal cells and microorganisms. The financial support – the largest grant ever provided for cellular agriculture by a national government – is from the National Growth Fund.

Making salt water fresh on Lampedusa

Since last week, a large-scale demo installation in Lampedusa is producing drinking water, salts and chemicals from seawater in an environmentally friendly way. Project leader Dimitris Xevgenos: “This is the first time that we’re producing these marketable products at pre-commercial scale in Europe together with the right actors, including the use of waste heat. People can come and actually see it running.” 

NWO Grant for e-HEAT: understanding and controlling heat to enable large-scale electrolysers

The Board of NWO's domain of Applied and Technical Sciences awarded funding to the project e-HEAT: Understanding and controlling heat to enable large-scale electrolysers by Dr J.W.R. Peeters of TU Delft, through the Open Technology Programme.

Events

September

28

Pro2Tech NextGenHeat symposium

September

04
06

The 28th Thermodynamics Conference

Newsletters

Find our Newsletters here
Follow us on LinkedIn