Materials for Heterogeneous Catalysis

MatHeC Group

MATERIALS

Synthesis of high metallic dispersed catalysts on oxides, active carbons and mesoporous systems.

CATALYSIS

Low impact environmental catalytic methodologies, for biomass transformation and energy production.

SKILLS

High experience in catalytic processes, advanced analytical methods and characterization techniques.

About us

MatHeC is the research group headed by Prof. Laura Prati and Prof. Alberto Villa, in the Chemistry Department of the University of Milan.
MatHeC deals mainly with the design of nano-structured materials for heterogeneous catalysis. Research focuses on materials synthesis and functionalization in order to obtain highly dispersed mono- and bi-metallic catalysts, supported on oxides, activated carbons or mesoporous systems. Catalysts are studied and characterized through the most advanced techniques, with the aim to optimize the efficiency of catalytic processes converting biomass, producing biofuels or bio-polymers. Alcohol and polyols oxidation, as well as hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis reactions in liquid phase, are selected as model to correlate the specific material properties with its catalytic behavior in terms of activity and selectivity.

Topics

Current research’s lines of the group

Biomass valorization
Hydrogen production
Biofuels and Biochemicals
Nanoparticles synthesis and characterization
Bimetallic structures
and alloys
Nanoparticles for biomedical applications