ARC CBBC

The Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium is a Dutch national research center that investigates chemical building blocks for novel sustainable materials. It is a public-private organization in which academic, industrial and governmental partners are cooperating intensively. Its research projects focus on three themes: Functional materials & specialties, coatings and energy carriers. Prof. Bert Weckhuysen is one of the initiators of this grand project and current programme director.

Head of the group - Distinguished university professor

prof. dr. ir. Bert Weckhuysen

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied 4.82
+31 30 253 4328
B.M.Weckhuysen@uu.nl

The central research theme of the Weckhuysen group is the development of structure-activity relationships and expert systems in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and materials science with special emphasis on the development and use of advanced in situ characterization techniques.

Associate and assistant professors

dr. Eline Hutter

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-C
E.M.Hutter@uu.nl

It fascinates me how much energy is provided by (sun-)light, and I am curious to find out how we can use the interactions between materials and light to e.g. store >

dr. Matteo Monai

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-B 4.44
M.Monai@uu.nl

My research focuses on structure-activity relationships in nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts for small molecules activation (e.g. CO2 hydrogenation, dry methane reforming) and biomass conversion. My aim is to obtain fundamental insights >

dr. Ina Vollmer

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied 5.88
I.Vollmer@uu.nl

She wants to tackle the problem of plastic waste by developing better spectroscopic and microscopic methods to analyze various plastic samples and by developing chemical recycling pathways. The second part >

PhD candidates

Sofie Ferwerda

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-C
S.Ferwerda@uu.nl

My project, which is part of ARC CBBC and in collaboration with BASF, will focus on dry reforming of methane (DRM), in which greenhouse gasses CH4 and CO2 are converted >

Mirjam de Graaf

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-C, 2.08
M.E.deGraaf1@uu.nl

Mirjam de Graaf is PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Weckhuysen and Dr. Eline Hutter. Her research focuses on developing a coating for the removal of harmful and/or odorous >

Daan Groefsema

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied, 4th floor study area
D.W.Groefsema@uu.nl

The focus of Daan's project is the (further) development of Luminescence Thermometry and shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS), ultimately leading to a widely applicable analytical toolset for operando spectroscopy >

Bram Kappé

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-C 2.08
B.T.Kappe@uu.nl

Bram’s project is part of ARC CBBC, and in collaboration with BASF Bram will investigate structure sensitivity in nickel catalyzed (de)hydrogenation reactions, such as CO2 methanation. To study structure sensitivity, >

Kordula Schnabl

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied, 5th floor study area
K.B.Schnabl@uu.nl

Kordula will work on the controlled catalytic breakdown of humin and chitin to waterborne building blocks for coatings, including spatially-resolved spectroscopy of film formation and drying processes.

Bas Terlingen

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - Vening Meinesz-B 4.44
B.J.P.Terlingen@uu.nl

For AkzoNobel, the project concerns the re-use of the by-product hydrochloric acid to generate valuable compounds, thereby aiming to close the raw material loop, to reduce the carbon footprint and >

Sophie van Vreeswijk

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied, 4th floor study area
S.H.vanVreeswijk@uu.nl

In this research project, several non-commodity zeolite framework structures are investigated as examples of small molecule activation processes. To gather detailed physicochemical insights of these materials, a wide variety of >

Florian Zand

Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis - Utrecht University

Room - David de Wied, 5th floor study area
F.Zand@uu.nl

In his project, Florian will focus on the characterization of bimetallic catalysts, including their size, structure and composition during synthesis and CO2 hydrogenation.