Suzan Schoemaker

Alumna
Utrecht University

Department

Materials Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute for Nanomaterial Science, Chemistry Department

Contact information

Room
David de Wiedgebouw, 4th floor.

Email address
s.e.schoemaker@uu.nl

Key expertises

Heterogeneous catalysis, Catalyst preparation, Methane decomposition, Carbon nanotubes

About me

I was born in Zwolle, which is a city in the east of the Netherlands. After finishing high school, I moved to Utrecht to start my bachelors in Chemistry at Utrecht University. After that, I did the master Analytical Chemistry at the UvA/VU. In my spare time, I like to play tennis, go for walks and play with my parents’ dog.

About my research

The aim of my PhD-project is to design of bimetallic catalysts for the decomposition of methane into hydrogen while growing carbon nanomaterials. Although methane is currently a very low-cost and abundant feedstock, using it directly as a fuel is often unwanted due to the associated CO2 emissions. Decomposition into renewable hydrogen (which can be used as a clean fuel itself) and valuable carbon materials could be an interesting alternative. We would like to understand the influence of the composition, particle size, surface properties, morphology and initial spatial distribution of the catalyst on the growth of the carbon nanostructures to tune structure of the end-product, their density and mechanical properties.

Academic career

Bachelor student 2014-2017: Bachelor Chemistry at Utrecht University. Bachelor thesis research in the group Condensed Matter and Interfaces at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, under the supervision of dr. Celso de Mello-Donega. Master student 2017-2019: Master student Chemistry (Track: Analytical Sciences) at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University Amsterdam (joint degree). Master thesis research in the Analytical Chemistry Group at the UvA, under the supervision of Prof. dr. Peter Schoenmakers. PhD Candidate 2019- now: PhD Candidate in the group Materials Chemistry and Catalysis at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof. dr. Petra de Jongh.

Suzan Schoemaker