Date

Thursday 10 Sep 2026

Time

15:15 - 15:45

Location

BE010

Supervisor

Irene Groot

2nd reviewer

Marc Koper

Jury

Lies Bouwman

Carbon capture and conversion into valuable fuels and chemical precursors have gained significant research interest, especially the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to higher alcohols. Despite the relatively successful catalytic hydrogenation to methanol, the selective synthesis to ethanol and higher alcohols remain a greater challenge. This study reports the preparation and characterization of a promising Pd/Fe3O4(001) single-atom catalyst. Successful surface cleaning procedures consisting of ion-sputtering and annealing cycles were established and thoroughly examined via low energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. Scanning tunnelling microscopy imaging of the Fe3O4(001) illustrated the surface topography, where the observations generally agree with literature, however deviations from literature were also observed, therefore, requiring further investigation. Additionally, Pd deposition experiments provided a good estimation of deposition quantity, however, further experiments are required to achieve more reliable and conclusive information. The findings in this study contribute valuable insights towards the development and characterization of the Pd/Fe3O4(001) single atom catalyst and outline how the continuation of this study can be approached.