Robin Conradi
PhD candidate
Utrecht University
Department
Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis
Contact information
Room
Vening Meinesz C building 2.06
Email address
r.conradi@uu.nl
Key expertises
Heterogeneous catalysis, CO2 hydrogenation, polymer chemistry, spectroscopy, catalyst preparation
About me
I was born in Amersfoort, where I did my VWO, and moved to Utrecht for my Bachelor's in chemistry and Master's in nanomaterials science at Utrecht University. I performed my Master's thesis about olefin polymerization in the Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis group. My industrial internship was performed at Ioniqa Technologies, Eindhoven. In my free time, I like running, playing video games, and enjoying nature and culture while traveling around the world.
About my research
CO and CO2 hydrogenation catalysis is a promising pathway for transforming waste streams into valuable chemical building blocks. These waste streams, originating from steel manufacturing industries and agricultural and municipal waste processing, also contain nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorous species, which can influence the catalytic performance of the Co/TiO2 Fischer-Tropsch (FTS) catalyst. This PhD project aims to quantify and adequately understand the effect of these critical gas-phase “impurities” in the FTS catalytic system. Using an array of operando and in-situ spectroscopic techniques, the different surface and bulk Co-C/O/N/S/P contributions in the CO and CO2 hydrogenation process could be disentangled. This approach could make these catalytic system more robust against contaminants in renewable carbon sources.
Academic career
PhD Candidate:
2024 – current: PhD candidate in the Inorganic Chemistry & Catalysis group at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof. B.M. Weckhuysen.
Industrial Research Internship:
2024: Researcher in the R&D department of Ioniqa Technologies, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Dr. Francesco Mattarozzi and Dr. Silvia Zanoni.
MSc:
2022 – 2024: Master’s degree in Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University.
Masters thesis in the Inorganic Chemistry & Catalysis group under the supervision of Joren Dorresteijn titled: ‘Chitosan Microsphere-supported Catalysts: Design, Synthesis, and Optimization for Metallocene-based Olefin Polymerization.’
BSc:
2019 – 2022: Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Utrecht University.
Bachelor thesis in the Inorganic Chemistry & Catalysis group under the supervision of Joren Dorresteijn titled: ‘Novel Inorganic Microspherical Support for Metallocene Olefin Polymerization Catalysis.’
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