FSC member Alexis Bordet and colleagues publish research results in Nature Catalysis.

01/02/2023

A team of scientists led by Dr. Nicolas Kaeffer and FSC member Dr. Alexis Bordet from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (department of Prof. Walter Leitner) has presented a novel system in the journal "Nature Catalysis" that enables the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of water-insoluble organic substrates with high efficiency.

  cover of the nature catalysis magazine

While such processes are typically associated with low efficiency, the team tackled the challenge by combining expertise on emulsions, surface molecular modification, nanoparticle-based catalysis, and electrocatalysis. In particular, the authors developed a Pickering emulsion system that creates a large interface between aqueous and organic phases, which is stabilized by solid particles - metal nanoparticles immobilised on a carbon support - that act as an electrocatalyst.