2010 PIRE - ECCI P . I . Planning Meeting Dalian , China Sept 8 - 10 , 2010

We are interested in catalysts consisting either of substitutionally doped oxides (e.g. RuxCe1-xO2) or of submonolayers of an oxide supported on another oxide (e.g. VOx supported on ceria). Calculations and experiments show that in most cases these systems are more active catalysts than the original oxide (i.e. ceria). We use theory to try to find general patterns governing the activation by doping and to screen various oxide-dopant pairs. We perform experiments to find how the catalytic activity of a doped oxide depends on the method of preparation and the nature of the oxide and dopant. We are interested in alkane activation with a particular emphasis on methane and we study combustion, partial oxidation, steam reforming, dry reforming and the water-gas shift. We also use these catalysts to study CO2 activation and the possibility of using CO2 as a mild oxidant. More recently we started investigating the possibility of using anion dopants (e.g. replacing some oxygen atoms in the surface of the oxide with halogen atoms) to promote the activity of oxide catalysts. Finally, we are also planning to work on a two-step process in which an oxide is reduced with methane, to make syngas, and then is reoxidized with water to make hydrogen or is reoxidized with CO2 to make CO.