Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 81: Catalysis and surface reactions II
O 81.6: Talk
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 11:45–12:00, TRE/MATH
Studying low surface area photocatalysts at ambient pressure in a microreactor — •Paula Neumann1, Clara Aletsee2, Martin Tschurl1, and Ueli Heiz1 — 1Chair of Physical Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences & Catalysis Research Center, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85748 Garching, Germany — 2SurfCat Section for Surface Physics and Catalysis, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
While driving reactions with solar light is an ambitiously pursued goal, current approaches often suffer from low efficiencies due to missing knowledge about reaction dynamics on the catalysts surface. Here, the application of highly defined photocatalysts may allow deeper mechanistic insight but their low surface area imposes high demands on detection sensitivity for studying reactions at ambient conditions. Our gas-phase microreactor enables time-resolved investigation of planar photocatalysts by mass spectrometry in a well-defined reaction environment. Using the photo-oxidation of alcohols on a titania photocatalyst as a model system we show how reaction mechanisms first established in the ultra-high vacuum transfer to conditions of 1000 mbar. Disentangling the mechanistics of alcohol photochemistry might be a crucial step towards improving hydrogen formation as an important energy carrier as well as opening up pathways for the production of higher-value chemicals.
Keywords: photocatalysis; titanium dioxide; alcohols; gas phase; microreactor