Dr J.M. Bakker (Joost)
Associate professor - Condensed Matter Physics
Toernooiveld 7
6525 ED NIJMEGEN
Internal postal code: 74
Postbus 9010
6500 GL NIJMEGEN
It is my goal to develop a bottoms-up understanding of the interactions that drive heterogeneous catalytic processes on a molecular level, in particular of the catalytic activity of the transition metal clusters, the smallest heterogeneous catalysts. Metal clusters form the limiting factor in the surface-to-volume ratio for precious catalytic materials and can exhibit unexpected catalytic activity.
To this end I study the geometric and electronic structure of transition metal clusters with and without reactants in the gas phase, where an exceptional control over size- and charge allows for a fundamental understanding of the interaction between catalyst and substrate, one molecule at a time.
Part of this effort is the development of novel structure-sensitive characterization techniques, using e.g. Infrared Free-Electron Lasers.