![](https://photothermalcatalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Array-pulsed-v2-1.png)
Welcome to
The Photothermal Catalysis Lab
at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
We are a research group specialized in research on photothermal catalysis, pulsed catalysis, nanoscale heat transfer, and material science, with expertise spanning chemistry, physics, and chemical engineering. The group is led by Dr. Sven Askes and is hosted within the PhotoConversion Materials section.
Our main research areas
and expertises
![](https://photothermalcatalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Photocatalysis-concept-website.png)
Photo(thermal) catalysis
We fundamentally study photo- and photothermal catalysis for the greenification of chemical industry, using lab-scale reactors and advanced optical spectroscopy techniques.
![](https://photothermalcatalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Array-pulsed-v2-1024x576.png)
Catalysis under pulsed heating
We use (ultra)fast pulsed illumination for making heterogeneous catalysts work harder and smarter.
![](https://photothermalcatalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AFM-website.png)
Metal nitride plasmonic nanostructures
We develop and fabricate novel and robust plasmonic nanomaterials to solve the thermal stability limitations of conventional plasmonic photocatalysts.