Heterogeneous catalysis accelerates chemical reactions by providing an alternative pathway with lower energy barriers. This technology is crucial for our industry and society, particularly in terms of achieving carbon neutrality. Catalysis technology helps to reduce environmental impact by enabling cleaner and more sustainable industrial processes. It also plays a vital role in renewable energy applications, such as hydrogen production and biomass conversion. Even more, it contributes to clean air technologies through catalytic converters, converting harmful pollutants in vehicle exhaust into less harmful substances.

불균일계 촉매반응은 고체 표면 상에서 반응물을 활성화하여 다른 물질로의 화학반응을 촉진하는 기술입니다. 물질을 전환하는 촉매기술은 현대 산업의 거의 모든 분야 (대기오염 저감, 석유화학, 수소에너지, 기후변화 대응 등) 와 밀접한 연관이 있으며, 인류가 환경 영향을 줄이고 저탄소, 저에너지 산업으로의 전환을 준비하는 데 중요한 역할을 할 것입니다.

The modern catalysis society possesses a comprehensive understanding of utilizing single phase materials to achieve desired reactions. However, when dealing with multi-phase systems consisting of multiple components, the behavior is not simply an average of their individual properties. Instead, these systems exhibit distinct behaviors influenced by inter-particle interactions. Embracing multi-phase systems offers the opportunity to not only develop cooperative catalytic systems but also discover previously unknown phenomena that occur between different materials.

In the past, traditional catalysis research has relied on connecting data from ex situ characterization and reaction studies. However, recent advancements in in situ spectroscopy have revealed that active sites in catalysts are not static but dynamically interact with reactants. Our objective is to bridge this knowledge gap by studying working catalysts with combined transient, non-steady kinetics with steady-state reactions, thereby utilizing this understanding to design catalysis systems that are more efficient and selective.

With the advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology, it has become possible to precisely control and manipulate catalytic active sites. Our goal is to utilize the correlation between the structure and activity of catalysts in order to optimize and enhance their activity and selectivity for specific target reactions.