Catalysis and Reaction Engineering

The Catalysis and Reaction Engineering group at the Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Kanpur is actively involved in understanding the science and engineering across different length and time scales for various environmentally friendly catalytic processes. Applications range from thermo-catalytic to electro-catalytic and solar-catalytic processes. These reactions include those of recent interest, such as bio-mass conversion, carbon dioxide conversion, and oxygen-, chlorine- and hydrogen- evolution reactions, and those that are traditionally applied in the chemical process industry, such as hydrodesulfurization and various methane reforming reactions. Catalytic reactions for sustainable energy production are also in the forefront. Molecular level understanding of catalytic reactions is achieved through atomistic simulations, such as density functional theory (DFT), and mechanistic insights are developed through a combination of multi-scale computational and experimental techniques. Novel catalyst formulations, mechanistic interrogations, and reactor development are pursued by different groups to address societal needs.