About the Lab
Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt’s lab focuses on understanding and improving heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable energy conversion, chemical production, and emission control. A central goal is to reveal how catalyst structure, composition, and oxidation state evolve under realistic reaction conditions, and how these changes directly affect activity, selectivity, and stability.
The lab is particularly known for developing and applying advanced in situ and operando characterization techniques. These include X-ray absorption spectroscopy, synchrotron-based Mössbauer spectroscopy, Raman and infrared spectroscopy, X-ray tomography, and spatially resolved reactor studies. By combining these methods with kinetic measurements and microkinetic or theoretical modeling, the lab establishes detailed structure–activity relationships across length scales, from single atoms and nanoparticles to catalyst pellets and reactor channels.
Research topics span a wide range of catalytic processes relevant to the energy transition and climate protection, such as hydrogen production and utilization, ammonia synthesis and decomposition, methane reforming and oxidation, NOx reduction, biomass conversion, and selective oxidation reactions. The work directly addresses societal challenges including carbon neutrality, clean fuels, emission reduction, and efficient use of resources.
The lab is an excellent fit for students with backgrounds or interests in chemistry, chemical engineering, or materials science. Ideal candidates are curious about combining experiments with advanced characterization, enjoy interdisciplinary research, and are motivated to connect fundamental insights with real-world catalytic applications.