PhD Studentship - Understanding Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts by In-Situ Spectroscopy

Department: Chemistry

Title: Understanding Fischer-Tropsch catalysts by in-situ spectroscopy
Application deadline: 01/05/2024
Research theme: Catalysis, materials characterisation

How to apply: https://uom.link/pgr-apply-fap

This is an iCASE award funded through bp-ICAM. This 4 year PhD will start in September 2024. Tuition fees will be plaid and a tax free stipend will be awarded based on the UKRI rate (£18,622 for 2023/24).

This PhD project is an exciting opportunity to apply and develop the cutting-edge characterisation techniques available at the University of Manchester, working with bp as industrial partners to help solve one of the biggest challenges in the transition to Net Zero.

As part of the energy transition, alongside batteries and hydrogen, liquid hydrocarbon fuels will still be essential for very high energy-density applications such as aviation. The challenge is how to produce these fuels in a sustainable way with net zero CO2 emissions.
The Fischer-Tropsch process is a catalytic reaction which produces synthetic fossil fuels from diverse feedstocks, including sustainable ones such as Municipal Solid Waste, Biomass and captured CO2. bp is at the forefront of developing this technology – which is now being employed in the first Waste-to-fuel plant in the US.

However, Fischer-Tropsch still has a long way to go to produce sustainable liquid fuels at the scale required. It is imperative that we improve the selectivity of the catalysts used towards the desired product, but this is challenging as there are still large gaps in our knowledge of how the catalysts work and how changes in catalyst structure, composition and surface chemistry affect selectivity and stability.

In order to understand these relationships, we need to be able to characterise the catalyst operando (whilst it is operating). This is a major technical challenge and requires cutting-edge instrumentation and world-class expertise. My research group are experts in applying operando X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) - a powerful surface analysis technique to gain insight into catalysts, using the world-class instrumentation at our disposal in Manchester.

In the project you would:

• Characterize real industrial catalysts for the Fischer-Tropsch reaction
• Use the in-situ capabilities of our XPS instrumentation to simulate the operating environment of the catalysts at all points of the life cycle (activation, operation, poisoning/deactivation and regeneration)
• Use this insight to provide design principles for more selective and stable F-T catalysts

This project would suit someone with a background in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering or materials science with an interest in spectroscopic characterisation and/or instrument/technique development. Prior experience of XPS is not essential. Good teamwork skills are essential as this project will be undertaken in close collaboration with industrial mentors and other researchers working on complementary techniques such as electron microscopy and computational theory.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, physics or a related discipline.

Before you apply, please contact the supervisors, Dr Alex Walton and Prof Sarah Haigh: alex.walton@manchester.ac.uk sarah.haigh@manchester.ac.uk

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