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Paper Pitch: Efficiëntere zonnecellen

Wist je dat zonnecellen meestal slechts 20% van het zonlicht omzetten in elektrische energie? Dat betekent dat 80% niet wordt benut, en dat er veel ruimte voor verbetering is voor de volgende generatie zonnecellen. Onderzoekers van de TU Delft ontwikkelden een methode om nieuwe materialen te vinden voor efficiëntere zonnecellen.

Effect of vibrational modes on fluidization characteristics and solid distribution of cohesive micro- and nano-silica powders

Fluidization of powders with small particle sizes is typically troublesome due to their cohesive nature. These powders to not transition from a packed bed into a homogeneous fluidizing one upon the introduction of a gas flow. Rather, they tend to stay mostly stationary, forming vertical channels through which the gas can escape. Several methods have been studied to overcome this behaviour and initiate fluidization, one of which is vertical vibration. We hypothesized that a horizontal component of the vibration would be more effective in disrupting the channelling, since the vibration would work perpendicular to the channel direction. In our work we compared the fluidization quality of beds of micro- and nano-particles, subjected vertical and elliptical (a combination of vertical and horizontal) vibration. In contrast to our expectations, we found that adding a horizontal component mitigated the effect of the vibrations, to the point that channels mostly remained present in the bed, whereas solely vertically vibrated beds showed full fluidization. Additionally, utilizing sectional pressure drop measurements, we showed improvements in fluidization behaviour with respect to the superficial gas velocity, which could not be acquired through conventional indicators of fluidization. Finally, we confirmed our results by X-ray imaging, where the presence or absence of channels could easily be demonstrated. Rens Kamphorst, Kaiqiao Wu, Matthijs van Baarlen, Gabrie M.H. Meesters, J. Ruud van Ommen Rens Kamphorst Go to the publication

NWO-subsidie om centrale bouwstenen voor quantumcomputers te ontwikkelen

De toekomst van de informatietechnologie ligt in de quantum-informatietechnologie, die een grote sprong voorwaarts belooft in rekenkracht en communicatie. De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) heeft vanuit het Open Technologieprogramma een subsidie van €850,000 toegekend aan een consortium dat centrale bouwstenen voor toekomstige quantumcomputers zal ontwikkelen. Het consortium, onder leiding van UvA-natuurkundige Peter Schall, bestaat uit de Universiteit van Amsterdam, TU Delft en de partners uit het bedrijfsleven Toyota en Quix.

Organochlorides Mediate Oxidation Reactions Induced by Low Dose Ionizing Radiation

In cancer treatment, there exists an acute need to deliver drugs exclusively at the tumor site. This necessity arises from the adverse side effects associated with systemic treatments and the potential utilization of highly cytotoxic drugs. The use of ionizing radiation to trigger the release of chemotherapeutic drugs holds great promise in this regard, both to achieve local, targeted release as well as in the context of combined radiotherapy-chemotherapy approaches. However, a substantial challenge persists across these methodologies: the inherent insensitivity of molecular processes to ionizing radiation at clinically relevant radiation doses. In simpler terms, inducing selective breaking or making of chemical bonds -essential for drug release or activation- is exceedingly difficult at low radiation doses. To date, only a handful of highly specific methods have been reported. In a collaborative project with prof. Antonia Denkova (RST), where we discovered that certain organochloride compounds significantly amplify radiation-induced oxidation, this can be used to initiate release and activation of drugs. Remarkably, our method already demonstrates efficacy with a mere 4 Gy dose of gamma or X-rays, well within the confines of standard clinical radiotherapy doses. J. Liu, T. G. Brevé, B. Xu, P.-L. Hagedoorn, A.G. Denkova, R. Eelkema Abstract The controlled release of drugs using local ionizing radiation presents a promising approach for targeted cancer treatment, particularly when applied in concurrent radio-chemotherapy. In these approaches, radiation-generated reactive species often play an important role. However, the reactive species that can be used to trigger release have low yield and lack selectivity. Here, we demonstrate the generation of highly oxidative species when aqueous solutions containing low concentrations of organochlorides (such as chloroform) are irradiated with ionizing radiation at therapeutically relevant doses. These reactive species were identified as peroxyl radicals, which formed in a reaction cascade between organochlorides and aqueous electrons. We employed stilbene-based probes to investigate the oxidation process, showing double bond oxidation and cleavage. To translate this reactivity into a radiation-sensitive material, we have synthesized a micelle forming amphiphilic block copolymer that has stilbene as the linker between two blocks. Upon exposure to ionizing radiation, the oxidation of stilbene led to the cleavage of the polymer, which induces the dissociation of the block-copolymer micelles and the release of loaded drugs. Dr. Rienk Eelkema Read the publication

Paving the road towards automated homogeneous catalyst design

In this paper, we discuss the history of using computational tools for designing transition-metal based homogeneous catalysts, current strategies and what challenges we see. A lot is said about the power of machine learning nowadays, but you can only do machine learning if you can also generate data reliably, reproducibly and at large scale. This is still a problem for this class of catalysts. We discuss the open-source Open Bidentate Ligand eXplorer (OBeLiX) Python package that we are developing for this purpose. Adarsh V. Kalikadien, Adrian Mirza, Aydin Najl Hossaini, Dr. Avadakkam Sreenithya, Prof. Dr. Evgeny A. Pidko Abstract In the past decade, computational tools have become integral to catalyst design. They continue to offer significant support to experimental organic synthesis and catalysis researchers aiming for optimal reaction outcomes. More recently, data-driven approaches utilizing machine learning have garnered considerable attention for their expansive capabilities. This Perspective provides an overview of diverse initiatives in the realm of computational catalyst design and introduces our automated tools tailored for high-throughput in silico exploration of the chemical space. While valuable insights are gained through methods for high-throughput in silico exploration and analysis of chemical space, their degree of automation and modularity are key. We argue that the integration of data-driven, automated and modular workflows is key to enhancing homogeneous catalyst design on an unprecedented scale, contributing to the advancement of catalysis research. Adarsh Kalikadien Read the publication

Isabell Bagemihl wins the Best Energy Paper 2023

"Techno-economic Assessment of CO2 Electrolysis: How Interdependencies between Model Variables Propagate Across Different Modelling Scales"

Events

december

05

e-Refinery lunch lecture | Theoretical studies of the mechanism of C1 and C2 product formation in CO2 electrochemical reduction

     

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