Southampton students take their research on porous materials in carbon utilisation to Rio de Janeiro

University of Southampton researchers joined scientists from all over the world who congregated in Rio de Janeiro from 18-24 June 2016 for the 18th International Zeolite Conference (IZC). Clean Carbon’s Professor Robert Raja attended, along with doctoral students Stephanie Chapman and Elpinki Georgiou, both of whom had been invited to deliver conference presentations.

The IZC is a triennial event offering academics and industrialists working in the field of porous materials the opportunity to showcase their research. This highly-acclaimed event draws prominent speakers from around the world, encouraging researchers to share their knowledge and expertise, relate new findings, and engage in collaborations. The conference program featured a diverse array of materials and applications, including the role of porous materials for CO2 capture and utilisation, which was addressed in a number of talks.

Stephanie Chapman was awarded a presentation slot to describe how neutron spectroscopy has revealed low-temperature interactions between substrate and hierarchically-porous silicoaluminophosphate catalysts. Hierarchical materials featured heavily at the conference, reflecting a general trend in the community towards their development, on account of the vast scope of their applications. Hierarchical frameworks have shown promise in the field of carbon capture and utilisation for tethering catalysts capable of converting CO2 into fine chemicals and polymers.

In her talk, Elpiniki Georgiou (joint PhD student with Dr James Blake, SMMI) highlighted the role of visible-light photocatalysts and how these could be tailored for the sustainable production of chemicals and in renewable energy generation.