Remco Hartkamp and David Vermaas receive Vidi grants
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded two e-Refinery researchers a Vidi grant of up to €800,000. This will allow the laureates to develop an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group over the next five years.
The NWO Talent Programme gives researchers the freedom to pursue their own research based on creativity and passion. It encourages innovation and curiosity. Curiosity-driven research contributes to and prepares us for tomorrow’s society. That is why NWO focuses on diversity in terms of researchers, domains and backgrounds. Together with the Veni and Vici grants, Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Programme.
NWO selects researchers based on the academic quality and innovative character of the research proposal, scientific and/or societal impact of the proposed project and the quality of the researcher. The researcher will receive a Vidi grant of up to 800,000 euro. This will enable the laureates to develop an innovative line of research over the next five years and further expand their own research group.
Let’s put CO2 to a good use
Dr.ir. R.M. Hartkamp, Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE)
Greenhouse gases can be converted to useful products via an electrical process called electrolysis. Electrolysis is promising and finds increasingly more use in industry, but the efficiency of this technique is still too low to address CO2 emissions. This project aims to solve one of the technical questions currently standing in the way of large-scale implementation of electrolysis. The researcher will use computer simulations to optimize the conversion of CO2 and in this way bring us a big step closer to a sustainable future.
Towards green fuels with nano-sized thin layers
Dr.ir. D.A. Vermaas, Applied Sciences (AS)
How to fuel our processes without fossil resources? We can convert water and CO2 in green fuels, such as hydrogen and precursors for sustainable gasoline, using renewable electricity. That requires selective membranes to separate fuel products from its resources. However, current membranes perform below industrial standards. Therefore, I will investigate (nano-)thin layered membranes, which potentially produce highly pure fuels at high energy efficiency. Each layer features a different functionality: rejecting undesired species, hydration, or facilitating the chemical reaction. These membranes allow us to synthesize green fuel efficiently for accelerating the energy transition.
Click here for answers to some frequently asked questions about the Talent Programme.
Please read the press release of NWO.