Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Heck, Co-Promotor: B.P. Tighe

With the help of quantum mechanics, digital quantum hardware may be able to tackle some of the problems that are too difficult for ordinary computers. But despite these expectations and the ongoing effort of the research community, reliable quantum computers are not yet realized in a lab setting.

Bacterial biocatalysis constitutes a sustainable alternative for high-value chemicals production by enabling the utilization of renewable feedstocks.

Promotores: C. J. ten Cate; M. A. Ainslie. Co-promotor: W. Slabbekoorn

Ice, the solid state of water, plays an important role on our planet as well as the entire universe.Despite the fact that an individual water molecule has a very simple structure, its chemical bonding in the solid phase can be surprisingly complex.

The key characteristic of active matter is the motion of an emergent collection (such as a flock of birds), which is driven by the consumption of energy by its active components (i.e. individual birds).

Organisms often need to adapt more efficiently and devise new strategies for surviving difficult ecological circumstances.

In most applications, electrocatalysts exhibit a large surface area to volume ratio, for example using nanoparticles.

The role of the interfacial environment during electrochemical reactions has been increasingly valued, especially for those reactions involving protons or hydroxyl ions.

This thesis is devoted to an in-depth examination of the various effects of disorder in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors.

This thesis investigates reactive interfaces in surface science across three domains: heterogeneous catalysis, environmental nanoplastics, and two-dimensional materials.

This thesis focuses on developing wafer-scale two-dimensional (2D) materials by combining synthesis, transfer, characterization, and device integration of graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and BN-doped amorphous carbon.

Climate change is one of the largest challenges faced by humanity. To combat this research into alternatives to fossil fuels is ongoing. Dihydrogen is considered a good alternative fuel, since its burning only forms water.

Solar energy harnessed by plants and algae has great potential to be converted into biofuels for future generations.

The research in this thesis is focused on tomographic reconstruction based on two imaging modalities in electron microscopy.

This work describes several studies into the electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR), both regarding mechanistical aspects and catalyst stability considerations. Mechanistic insights into carbon-carbon bond formation on a silver catalyst are described in Ch 2, were we find an acetaldehyde-like surface…

Hydrocarbonylation of alkenes with carboxylic acids in synthesis of carboxylic acid anhydrides is relatively less explored. We herein present a study and optimization of a palladium-catalyzed hydrocarbonylation reaction of alkenes using carboxylic acids as the nucleophile, by which acid anhydrides can…

Promotor: G.J. Kramer Co-Promotor: E.G.M. Kleijn

Despite the history of studies on methanol formation from CO2, the dominant elementary reaction steps that constitute the chemical mechanism for this catalyzed process are not determined.

Synthesis and application of chemical biology tools to study immunomodulatory signaling lipids.

Bicarbonate buffer is largely found in nature due to its ability to regulate pH variations around neutral values. As the pH changes, so does the speciation of the buffer.

This PhD-thesis presents a study on micron-sized particles, so-called colloids. By controlling the chemical and physical properties of these particles, such as the interparticle interaction and the particles’ shape, colloids can act as building blocks that self-assembly into larger structures.

Pectin is a plant cell wall polysaccharide made of mainly D-galacturonic acid (GA) subunits. The potency of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger to naturally secrete high amounts of pectinases to degrade pectin has been utilized for the industrial production of pectinases.

In this dissertation iron-based homogeneous catalysts were synthesized, characterized and investigated for water oxidation activity.

Electrocatalysis allows for storing electricity or converting it into chemical bonds, producing chemical building blocks and fuels using renewable resources.

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is an ubiquitous part of oil refining that ensures that fuels are cleaned of impurities and environment release of pollutants such as SOx and NOx gasses are minimized.

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an essential half-reaction for the utilization of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel, via the conversion of hydrogen to electrons and protons facilitated by the ORR. In the most common fuel cells, the ORR is requires high loadings of non-abundant platinum…

Electron microscopy has become an extremely important techniquein a wide variety of elds.

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-promotor: J.B.F. Juurlink

I have studied the hot, diffuse gas around and between galaxies. Specifically, I have used the EAGLE numerical simulations of galaxy formation to predict the properties of this gas, and I have used those properties to predict specific observables: soft X-ray absorption and emission lines.

In this thesis we study the landscape of gravitational models which modify GR by introducing an additional scalar degree of freedom (d.o.f.) to source Cosmic Acceleration.

Food waste is a defining inefficiency of the modern food system, with profound implications for resource use, climate change, and circular economy transitions. This dissertation examines food waste through two complementary lenses: the prevention of avoidable food waste and the valorization of unavoidable…

Producing green energy has become the main goal in our society in the search of reducing or eliminating the carbon emission from fossil fuels.

Promotor: E. Bouwman, Co-Promotor: S. Bonnet

Radiography is an important technique to inspect objects, with applications in airports and hospitals. X-ray imaging is also essential in industry, for instance in food safety checks for the presence of foreign objects.

Sustainable energy from wind and solar is most readily available near the sea.

In multi/many-core System-on-Chips (SoCs), the performance is almost linearly scaling with the number of processing elements.

The redox-conversion reaction of metal-disulfide and metal-thiolate complexes are important, as they may shed light on electron-transfer reactions that often occur in Nature.

In this thesis, we develop a novel technique called Optical Near-field Electron Microscopy (ONEM), which aims to combine the advantages of both optical and electron microscopy: the high resolution of electron microscopy and the low sample damage of optical microscopy.

In the first part of this thesis we study the geometry of folding patterns.

What physics controls the properties of quantum matter, such as how electrons flow inside high-temperature superconductors? This question has captivated the physics community and industry for decades, in part due to the great technological potential such materials have, but also because they have resisted…

This thesis addresses the challenge of sustainable urban development by analyzing the interplay between green and grey infrastructure to optimize resource use and ecosystem services.

This thesis investigates catalytic reactions at the atomic scale using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), with a focus on Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, a key industrial process that converts hydrogen and carbon monoxide into liquid fuels.

Gendergerelateerd geweld is een urgent maatschappelijk probleem dat jaarlijks het leven van tienduizenden mensen in Nederland ingrijpend raakt.

Voel je snel thuis in Den Haag door lid te worden van een studentenverening. Een leuke manier om veel mensen te leren kennen.

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.