Metals and metal oxide catalysts are the backbones of the chemical industry and used due to their robustness as well as catalytic abilities. The group focus is on understanding how catalytic phenomena arise due to the physical and electronic structure catalytic systems at hand. First principle methods are applied to develop accurate models for prediction of catalyst properties. The systems studied by the group are not only ideal metal and metal oxide surfaces, but also nanoparticles (supported and unsupported), alloys, mixed oxides, and defect structures. Further, the applications for the studied chemistries and catalytic systems are many and include: conversion of natural gas, crude oil intermediates, as well as reagents from biomass. The study of these systems lead to the goal of development and improvement of current and new catalytic processes.
