The work aims at generating knowledge of heterogeneous catalysts for carbon dioxide activation. To achieve this goal, synchrotron-based in situ/operando techniques are fundamental: The development of reaction cells has been one of Albert’s activities. The first cell was developed in the Advanced Light Source synchrotron in Berkeley, which allowed to perform transmission powder diffraction under gas flow at high temperature. This setup was upgraded to a high-pressure plug-flow system in the PETRA III synchrotron in Germany. More recently, Albert has transferred the concept to a thin film geometry within the CatLab project in the BESSY-II synchrotron. Besides cell design, Albert is responsible for the commissioning and operation of reactors, including multi-parallel reactors for thin-film catalysis. The tools developed represent unique opportunities to reveal the structure and dynamics of catalysts. The structure-activity correlations for heterogeneous catalysts are established using a combination of different methods, including catalytic tests, several synchrotron scattering and spectroscopic techniques, electron microscopy (SEM/TEM/STEM) and often theory: the focus is carbon dioxide activation for the energy transition.
