Dr. Iván López Luque, a postdoctoral researcher at the Catalysis Engineering group of Delft University of Technology, has won a VIRAN poster prize at the 2026 edition of the Netherlands’ Catalysis and Chemistry Conference (NCCC XXVII), held March 2-4 in Noordwijkerhout.
The poster describes research into Re/TiO2 catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. It presents their synthesis and catalytic performance, as well as the results of operando diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The research shows that high loading of Re/TiO2 allows almost full selectivity to methanol (>89%) at temperatures below 100 °C and high pressures (150 bar) under CO2 hydrogenation conditions. Furthermore, the observed high surface coverage of dimers-like Re-carbonyl species may ensure the formation of methanol-derived intermediates at low temperatures.
Click the poster to enlarge, or download the PDF here.
The selection of the poster prize was made by VIRAN participants at the conference based on the following criteria:
- clear message and conclusions;
- visually appealing;
- a good balance between text and figures; and
- enthusiasm during presentation of the poster and answering questions.
