The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 into hydrocarbon fuels, like methane or ethylene, is regarded as one of the best methods to address one of the main current environmental issues: reducing the CO2 footprint of our society. However, in order to meet the demands of the energy transition (i.e. reduce the CO2 footprint with 80-95% by 2050), longer hydrocarbon chains with three or more carbon atoms (C>2) have to formed out of CO2. Our research focuses on the synthesis of colloidal metal nanoparticles with various sizes and shapes (e.g. nanorods or nanoplatelets) in order to design the ultimate electrocatalyst, and use these nanoparticles in the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) for the production of C>2 hydrocarbons. Our main interest lies in unravelling where the reaction takes place by performing in-situ diffraction and spectroscopy measurements, ideally under true reaction conditions. Colloidal nanomaterials are ideally suited for this purpose, since they can be prepared with atomic precision in solution, which not only allows us to deposit them on various electrodes, but also characterize the size, shape and faceting during the reaction. This will give valuable fundamental, but also practical insights into the exact reaction mechanism of CO2RR and the (de)activation of the electrocatalyst nanoparticles, which will allow us to rationally design the ultimate electrocatalyst. Furthermore, the size-, shape- and composition-tunability of colloidal nanomaterials can be used to direct and induce C-C coupling, in order to efficiently produce C>2 hydrocarbons from CO2.
Academic Career
Tenure-track position:
2019 – to date: Tenure Track Assistant Professor at Utrecht University in the group of Prof. Bert Weckhuysen (NL)
Postdoctoral experience
2018-2019: Postdoctoral Researcher at Delft University of Technology under the supervision of dr. Ferdinand Grozema (NL)
2016-2018: Postdoctoral Researcher at Delft University of Technology under the supervision of dr. Arjan Houtepen (NL)
Early Stage Researcher
2016: PhD degree from Utrecht University under the supervision of dr. Celso de Mello Donegá and Prof. Andries Meijerink (NL)
2012: Master degree in Chemistry & Physics with greatest distinction (cum laude) from Utrecht University (NL)
2012: MSc Internship at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia under the supervision of Prof. Liberato Manna (IT)
2010: Bachelors degree in Chemistry from Utrecht University under the supervision of dr. Esther Groeneveld and dr. Celso de Mello Donegá (NL)
Educational/Teaching Activities
2021-to date: Lecturer for the undergraduate first-year course ‘Inorganic Chemistry’, discussing, among others, trends in the periodic table, MO theory and H2O electrolyzers/H2 economy
Mar 2021: Lecturer at the ECCM Graduate School 2020, entitled ‘In situ and operando spectroscopy of CO2 reduction reaction‘
2020 – to date: Topical Lecturer in the undergraduate third-year course ‘Physical Chemistry 3’ entitled ‘CO2 electrolyzers and spectroscopy’
Oct 2020: Lecturer at the MCEC Graduate School 2020 entitled ‘Introduction to Electrochemistry’
Oct 2019: Lecturer at the MCEC Graduate School 2019 entitled ‘Introduction to Colloidal Nanomaterials’
2019 – to date: Member of the Education Advisory Board (OAC) of the Chemistry Bachelor at Utrecht University
Mar 2019 – to date: Daily supervisor or first examiner of Bachelor and Master students at Utrecht University – Project supervision for their thesis projects
Mar 2018: Lecturer for the course ‘Nanoparticle Technology’ at Delft University of Technology, entitled ‘Colloidal nanoparticle synthesis and applications‘
Oct 2016 – Feb 2019: Daily supervisor of 5 Bachelor and 1 Master students at Delft University of Technology – Project supervision for their thesis projects
Oct 2012 – Sep 2012: Daily supervisor of 4 Bachelor and 4 Master students at Delft University of Technology – Project supervision for their thesis projects
2012-2018: Teaching assistant for several courses at Utrecht University (UU) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), including ‘Inorganic and Solid State Chemistry’ (UU), ‘Organic Chemistry Practicals’ (UU), ‘Thermodynamics’ (TU Delft) and ‘Nanomaterials’ (UU)
Awards, Honors and Grants
Research Grants
ENW-PPS-IPP grant (2020). Funding Agency: Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research. (co-applicant)
Scientific Awards
Granted beam time for 4 proposals at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France
Poster prize at the NaNaX6 conference, Bad Hofgastein, Austria (2014)
Outreach
Ward has discussed during the ‘Operatie Breinbreker’ show how we can stop climate change. Click here to watch Ward’s appearance in the show! (in Dutch)
During the ‘Weekend van de Wetenschap’ in 2019 and 2020, Ward designed and organised experiments to make children excited about science. You will find more information on the presented program here. (in Dutch)
Publications
Wu, L; Kolmeijer, K E; Zhang, Y; An, H; Arnouts, S; Bals, S; Altantzis, T; Hofmann, J P; Figueiredo, M Costa; Hensen, E J M; Weckhuysen, B M; Stam, W Van Der
Stabilization effects in binary colloidal Cu and Ag nanoparticle electrodes under electrochemical CO2reduction conditions Journal Article
In: Nanoscale, vol. 13, no. 9, pp. 4835-4844, 2021.
@article{Wu20214835,
title = {Stabilization effects in binary colloidal Cu and Ag nanoparticle electrodes under electrochemical CO2reduction conditions},
author = {L Wu and K E Kolmeijer and Y Zhang and H An and S Arnouts and S Bals and T Altantzis and J P Hofmann and M Costa Figueiredo and E J M Hensen and B M Weckhuysen and W Van Der Stam},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85102415523&doi=10.1039%2fd0nr09040a&partnerID=40&md5=5196f833d12448f745658ba15739b5f0},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
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An, H; Wu, L; Mandemaker, L D B; Yang, S; Ruiter, J De; Wijten, J H J; Janssens, J C L; Hartman, T; Stam, W Van Der; Weckhuysen, B M
Sub-Second Time-Resolved Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Reveals Dynamic CO Intermediates during Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Copper Journal Article
In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, vol. 60, no. 30, pp. 16576-16584, 2021.
@article{An202116576,
title = {Sub-Second Time-Resolved Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Reveals Dynamic CO Intermediates during Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Copper},
author = {H An and L Wu and L D B Mandemaker and S Yang and J De Ruiter and J H J Wijten and J C L Janssens and T Hartman and W Van Der Stam and B M Weckhuysen},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85107959879&doi=10.1002%2fanie.202104114&partnerID=40&md5=14ec7cc47637cc245a2539b7c8664d15},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
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journal = {Angewandte Chemie - International Edition},
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number = {30},
pages = {16576-16584},
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Vonk, S J W; Fridriksson, M B; Hinterding, S O M; Mangnus, M J J; Swieten, T P Van; Grozema, F C; Rabouw, F T; Stam, W Van Der
Trapping and Detrapping in Colloidal Perovskite Nanoplatelets: Elucidation and Prevention of Nonradiative Processes through Chemical Treatment Journal Article
In: Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 124, no. 14, pp. 8047-8054, 2020.
@article{Vonk20208047,
title = {Trapping and Detrapping in Colloidal Perovskite Nanoplatelets: Elucidation and Prevention of Nonradiative Processes through Chemical Treatment},
author = {S J W Vonk and M B Fridriksson and S O M Hinterding and M J J Mangnus and T P Van Swieten and F C Grozema and F T Rabouw and W Van Der Stam},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85084036259&doi=10.1021%2facs.jpcc.0c02287&partnerID=40&md5=b2a928d6323282f6c98ee3fd8d84f0d6},
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Hartman, T; Geitenbeek, R G; Wondergem, C S; Stam, W Van Der; Weckhuysen, B M
Operando Nanoscale Sensors in Catalysis: All Eyes on Catalyst Particles Journal Article
In: ACS Nano, 2020.
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title = {Operando Nanoscale Sensors in Catalysis: All Eyes on Catalyst Particles},
author = {T Hartman and R G Geitenbeek and C S Wondergem and W Van Der Stam and B M Weckhuysen},
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Berends, A C; Stam, W Van Der; Akkerman, Q A; Meeldijk, J D; Lit, J Van Der; Donega, C De Mello
Anisotropic 2D Cu2- xSe Nanocrystals from Dodecaneselenol and Their Conversion to CdSe and CuInSe2 Nanoparticles Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 3836-3846, 2018.
@article{Berends20183836,
title = {Anisotropic 2D Cu2- xSe Nanocrystals from Dodecaneselenol and Their Conversion to CdSe and CuInSe2 Nanoparticles},
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Berends, A C; Stam, W Van Der; Hofmann, J P; Bladt, E; Meeldijk, J D; Bals, S; Donega, C De Mello
Interplay between Surface Chemistry, Precursor Reactivity, and Temperature Determines Outcome of ZnS Shelling Reactions on CuInS 2 Nanocrystals Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 2400-2413, 2018.
@article{Berends20182400,
title = {Interplay between Surface Chemistry, Precursor Reactivity, and Temperature Determines Outcome of ZnS Shelling Reactions on CuInS 2 Nanocrystals},
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der Stam, W Van; Geuchies, J J; Altantzis, T; Bos, K H W Van Den; Meeldijk, J D; Aert, S Van; Bals, S; Vanmaekelbergh, D; Donega, C De Mello
Highly Emissive Divalent-Ion-Doped Colloidal CsPb1-xMxBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals through Cation Exchange Journal Article
In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 139, no. 11, pp. 4087-4097, 2017.
@article{VanderStam20174087,
title = {Highly Emissive Divalent-Ion-Doped Colloidal CsPb1-xMxBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals through Cation Exchange},
author = {W Van der Stam and J J Geuchies and T Altantzis and K H W Van Den Bos and J D Meeldijk and S Van Aert and S Bals and D Vanmaekelbergh and C De Mello Donega},
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Stam, W Van Der; Rabouw, F T; Vonk, S J W; Geuchies, J J; Ligthart, H; Petukhov, A V; Donega, C De Mello
Oleic Acid-Induced Atomic Alignment of ZnS Polyhedral Nanocrystals Journal Article
In: Nano Letters, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2608-2614, 2016.
@article{VanDerStam20162608,
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Stam, W Van Der; Rabouw, F T; Geuchies, J J; Berends, A C; Hinterding, S O M; Geitenbeek, R G; Lit, J Van Der; Prévost, S; Petukhov, A V; Donega, C De Mello
In Situ Probing of Stack-Templated Growth of Ultrathin Cu2-xS Nanosheets Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 28, no. 17, pp. 6381-6389, 2016, (cited By 9).
@article{VanDerStam20166381c,
title = {In Situ Probing of Stack-Templated Growth of Ultrathin Cu2-xS Nanosheets},
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Stam, W Van Der; Rabouw, F T; Vonk, S J W; Geuchies, J J; Ligthart, H; Petukhov, A V; Donega, C De Mello
Oleic Acid-Induced Atomic Alignment of ZnS Polyhedral Nanocrystals Journal Article
In: Nano Letters, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2608-2614, 2016, (cited By 19).
@article{VanDerStam20162608b,
title = {Oleic Acid-Induced Atomic Alignment of ZnS Polyhedral Nanocrystals},
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Stam, W Van Der; Gradmann, S; Altantzis, T; Ke, X; Baldus, M; Bals, S; Donega, C De Mello
Shape control of colloidal Cu2-xS polyhedral nanocrystals by tuning the nucleation rates Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 28, no. 18, pp. 6705-6715, 2016.
@article{VanDerStam20166705,
title = {Shape control of colloidal Cu2-xS polyhedral nanocrystals by tuning the nucleation rates},
author = {W Van Der Stam and S Gradmann and T Altantzis and X Ke and M Baldus and S Bals and C De Mello Donega},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84989172561&doi=10.1021%2facs.chemmater.6b03098&partnerID=40&md5=dbdd422749f0afe5db55e2ed2ef065ca},
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Stam, W Van Der; Berends, A C; Donega, C De Mello
Prospects of Colloidal Copper Chalcogenide Nanocrystals Journal Article
In: ChemPhysChem, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 559-581, 2016.
@article{VanDerStam2016559,
title = {Prospects of Colloidal Copper Chalcogenide Nanocrystals},
author = {W Van Der Stam and A C Berends and C De Mello Donega},
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Rabouw, F T; Cogan, N M B; Berends, A C; Stam, W Van Der; Vanmaekelbergh, D; Koenderink, A F; Krauss, T D; Donega, C D M
Non-blinking single-photon emitters in silica Journal Article
In: Scientific Reports, vol. 6, 2016.
@article{Rabouw2016d,
title = {Non-blinking single-photon emitters in silica},
author = {F T Rabouw and N M B Cogan and A C Berends and W Van Der Stam and D Vanmaekelbergh and A F Koenderink and T D Krauss and C D M Donega},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84959020156&doi=10.1038%2fsrep21187&partnerID=40&md5=24a37a78be9badb85641dfe5af35b8ae},
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Stam, W Van Der; Bladt, E; Rabouw, F T; Bals, S; Donega, C De Mello
Near-Infrared Emitting CuInSe2/CuInS2 Dot Core/Rod Shell Heteronanorods by Sequential Cation Exchange Journal Article
In: ACS Nano, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 11430-11438, 2015, (cited By 46).
@article{VanDerStam201511430b,
title = {Near-Infrared Emitting CuInSe2/CuInS2 Dot Core/Rod Shell Heteronanorods by Sequential Cation Exchange},
author = {W Van Der Stam and E Bladt and F T Rabouw and S Bals and C De Mello Donega},
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Stam, W Van Der; Berends, A C; Rabouw, F T; Willhammar, T; Ke, X; Meeldijk, J D; Bals, S; Donega, C De Mello
Luminescent CuInS2 quantum dots by partial cation exchange in Cu2- xS nanocrystals Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 621-628, 2015, (cited By 69).
@article{VanDerStam2015621b,
title = {Luminescent CuInS2 quantum dots by partial cation exchange in Cu2- xS nanocrystals},
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Stam, W Van Der; Akkerman, Q A; Ke, X; Huis, M A Van; Bals, S; Donega, C De Mello
Solution-processable ultrathin size- and shape-controlled colloidal Cu2- xS nanosheets Journal Article
In: Chemistry of Materials, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 283-291, 2015.
@article{VanDerStam2015283,
title = {Solution-processable ultrathin size- and shape-controlled colloidal Cu2- xS nanosheets},
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Stam, W Van Der; Gantapara, A P; Akkerman, Q A; Soligno, G; Meeldijk, J D; Roij, R Van; Dijkstra, M; Donega, C De Mello
Self-assembly of colloidal hexagonal bipyramid- and bifrustum-shaped ZnS nanocrystals into two-dimensional superstructures Journal Article
In: Nano Letters, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 1032-1037, 2014.
@article{VanDerStam20141032,
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