Nathalie Ligthart

Background

I have received a BSc degree in Chemistry and a MSc degree Nanomaterials Science at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. During these programs, I have worked on several research projects, in which I studied electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction and the diffusion of flexible colloidal clusters. Currently, I am a PhD candidate in the Transport Phenomena group at the TU Delft.

Research

Excess renewable electricity can be used for electrolysis of CO₂ in water and the production of hydrocarbon fuels. In addition to providing a way of producing sustainable fuels, this process enables storage of renewable energy and lowering of CO₂ emission. Currently, poor catalysis and slow mass transport of reactants and products in the electrochemical cell limit the efficiency of such processes. During my PhD project, I aim to develop an electrode that employs nanostructured materials to overcome these limitations and to find and understand the optimal reaction conditions for such a device.