A multifaceted and innovative approach to catalysis study

Category: Energy Transition

When we replace fossil by renewable energy carriers we still need fuels for many applications including mobility. These fuels come from splitting water with renewable energy to obtain hydrogen and combine it with CO₂. The science and technology behind is catalysis. Robert Schlögl and his team found ways how to watch catalysts at work in the research “Multifaceted Approach to enable the Transformation of Energy Systems”. This is important as they function best when catalyst material and reactant molecules “marry” and form unprecedented new structures. Minimizing the disturbance of catalyst and molecules during observation was the challenge. A suite of tools “seeing” working structures helped optimizing them to split oxygen from water and to combine hydrogen with CO₂. The product methanol is converted to fuels replacing Diesel bringing clean driving and renewable energy to mobility without novel infrastructures.

Eni Award

Launched in 2007 to recognise the best studies on efficiency, sustainability and environmental protection, the annual Eni Award is an international prize for applied research in the field of energy. Every year the competition involves many of the most important scientific institutions in the world as well as Eni's own in-house laboratories. The 2017 edition marks the 10^th anniversary of the Eni Award, with important innovations regarding the competition's subject areas and the establishment of a new category. Called Debut in Research: Young Talents from Africa, this will be reserved for graduates of African universities.