MERGE project lecture deepened knowledge of catalyst design and applications

Catalysts, their design, synthesis methods, and applications were the main focus of a seminar delivered by Gianvito Vilé, an expert in heterogeneous and single-atom catalysis from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He gave the lecture at VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava on 24 July at the Materials-Envi Lab (MEL) of CEET as part of the international MERGE project with additional support from the REFRESH project.

“The seminar broadened the knowledge of all the researchers in the team on catalytic processes and provided a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of catalysis engineering, catalyst design and reaction engineering. It also offered valuable insights into current research approaches and practical applications of catalysis,” said Aristeidis Bakandritsos from MEL, the MERGE project coordinator.

Prof. Gianvito Vilé obtained his PhD from ETH Zürich, where his doctoral research on nanostructured catalysts and continuous-flow hydrogenation processes earned him both the prestigious ETH Medal for outstanding doctoral research and the Dimitris N. Chorafas Award. Prof. Vile continued his successful carreer with the ERC Starting Grand and several European projects. During the seminar, he discussed a wide range of topics with the attendees, from the fundamentals of catalysis through the preparation and synthesis of catalysts for a more sustainable chemical and pharmaceutical industry to the mechanisms of catalyst operation and deactivation.

The development of environmentally friendly, easily recyclable, cost-effective and efficient single-atom catalysts for converting waste biomass into “green” chemicals and biofuels is the main objective of the international MERGE project funded by the Horizon Europe programme. The three-year project, coordinated by VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, brings together researchers from Politecnico di Milano in Italy, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands, and experts from the consulting company Q-PLAN International Advisors PC in Greece. The Italian partners contribute their extensive expertise in the design, optimisation and performance testing of catalysts across a wide range of organic chemistry processes.