Lunch Hour Lecture | Catalysis: Fundamental Science Supporting Industry, Energy and the Environment

This lecture will show how fundamental science, using Catalytic technologies, undertaken by UCL scientists and others, has led to major impact in industry in the UK and worldwide.

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Lunch Hour Lecture | Catalysis: Fundamental Science Supporting Industry, Energy and the Environment

11 Oct 2022, 13:00 – 14:00

Online Events
United Kingdom

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About the Lecture:
Catalysis – the process whereby chemical reactions are accelerated by reagents that are not consumed in the reaction – is of key economic and societal importance. Catalytic technologies are vital in the production of fuels and pharmaceuticals and in a wide range of manufacturing industry; they also play a crucial role in environmental protection and remediation. Over the last thirty years the field has been transformed by the application of computational modelling and advanced characterisation techniques, with the latter increasingly employing large scale central facilities including the UK Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.

This lecture will show how fundamental science, using these techniques, undertaken by UCL scientists and others, has led to major impact in industry in the UK and worldwide. We will also discuss the future impacts of the field including its vital role in achieving the target of net zero carbon.

This Autumn, we bring you a Lunch Hour Lecture Series to showcase how UCL research transforms lives.

Professor Andrew Beale

Professor of Inorganic Chemistry

UCL

Andrew Beale is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Group leader at the Research Complex at Harwell. He is also a management group member of the EPSRC-sponsored UK Catalysis Hub. His interests lie in establishing structure-function relationships in materials, including catalytic solids and energy storage as a function of both time and space using X-ray & optical spectroscopic and scattering methods applied under in situ and operando conditions. In 2012 he co-founded Finden Ltd providing high-end characterisation of solid-state functional materials spanning the fields of catalysis, energy, automotive parts and pharmaceuticals. He has published over 200 papers.

Professor Sir Richard Catlow

Professor of Computational and Materials Chemistry

UCL

Richard Catlow is Professor of Computational and Materials Chemistry at University College London, and Cardiff, University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of the German National Science Academy, the Leopoldina, and of the Academia Europaea. He served as Head of UCL Chemistry from 2002-2007, Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences from 2007-2014 and as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society from 2016 -2021.

His research programme is based on the development and application of computational techniques used in direct conjunction with experiment in probing the properties of complex materials. He has played a leading role in developing the field both in the UK and internationally. His programme comprises the study of energy materials, catalysis, nano-chemistry and surface chemistry. His work has also exploited the synergy between computation and experiment using synchrotron radiation and neutron scattering methods,especially in catalytic science. He is a co-founder and one of the lead investigators of the UK Catalysis Hub - a national network of over 40 teams in catalytic science with a physical centre on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. He has published over 1100 research papers.