Sophie van Vreeswijk has been recognized with the VIRAN Poster Award at the 27th Netherlands’ Catalysis and Chemistry Conference (NCCC XXVII), held on March 2–4, 2026.
Her poster, titled “Pt-based Zeolites as Bifunctional Catalysts for Polyethylene Depolymerization,” explores how zeolite-based catalysts can break down polyethylene into valuable chemical products. The research compares ZSM-5 and Y zeolites, with and without platinum, prepared by incipient wetness impregnation.
When platinum is introduced into ZSM-5, it forms nanoparticles on the outer surface of the crystals, leaving the internal structure and acid sites intact, resulting in superior catalytic performance compared to Pt-Y. The addition of platinum enables depolymerization at lower temperatures, producing paraffins at mild conditions and paraffins and aromatics at higher temperatures, via both cracking and hydrogenolysis/hydrocracking pathways. The differences in crystallinity, acidity, and platinum distribution explain why Pt-ZSM-5 outperforms Pt-Y.
The VIRAN award recognizes outstanding poster contributions at NCCC, highlighting excellent early-career research in the Dutch catalysis community.
