The Team

'Team, Team, Team, Team, Team – I even love saying the word: Team.' (Mr. Denholm)
Michiel Dusselier

michiel.dusselier@kuleuven.be

+3216376706

Michiel Dusselier

Professor


Prof. Dr. Ir. Michiel Dusselier is the research group leader and since 10/2022 tenured as Associate Professor at KU Leuven.


Michiel has a MSc in Bioscience Engineering (KU Leuven, 2009) and studied in part at the Technische Universität München. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2013 under the guidance of Profs. Sels and Pierre Jacobs on the topic of tailoring catalytic routes toward lactic acid and biobased plastics, resulting in a patented new process, now sold to industry. In 2014–15, he performed postdoctoral work with Prof. Mark Davis at the California Institute of Technology, studying the synthesis of small-pore zeolites, the elusive GME zeolite and methanol conversion. He is an honorary fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (B.A.E.F. boat of 2014) and secretary of the Dutch Zeolite Association. 

Michiel co-founded the new Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE) in 2019. He is focusing on zeolite synthesis methods, reactor design, functional biodegradable plastics and heterogeneous catalysis (CO2 activation). In particular, he is enthusiastic about elaborate synthesis-structure-activity relations and bottom-up catalyst design. He has (co)authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers, including in Science, Angew. Chem., J. Am. Chem. Soc, Chem. Rev., Nature Energy, Energy Environ. Sci.  etc; 8 book chapters and 7 patents of which one transferred to industry. Together with JP Lange, he edited the book Biodegradable Polymers in the Circular Plastics Economy, published by Wiley in 2022. He is the holder of an ERC starting Grant (2020) called Z-EURECA, studying unusual reactors for zeolite synthesis. The work has been recognized by several prizes, including the ACS Breen memorial award in 2013, the 2016 Incentive Award of the Belgian Chemical societies ft. ChemPubSoc, The Da Vinci Award of KU Leuven and the EOS Pipet of 2016. Michiel was laureate of the 2018 New Scientist Science talent competition (Netherlands) and honorary entry (top 3) of the 2019 ExxonMobil Chemical European Science & Engineering Award. In 2021, he received the alumni award in applied sciences of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. In 2022 he received the Young Researcher Award of the International Zeolite Association and in 2023 the N3C Award of the Dutch Catalysis Society. He is a member of the Early Career Advisory Board of ChemCatChem.

Ibrahim Khalil

khalil.ibrahim@kuleuven.be

Ibrahim Khalil

Postdoctoral researcher


Ibrahim obtained his Bachelor degree in Chemistry from the Faculty of Sciences in the Lebanese University in Beirut (2013). He conducted his Master studies in France in the University of Poitiers with specialty in Catalysis and Environmental Chemistry (2015). After his Master’s degree, he joined the Laboratory of Catalysis and Spectrochemistry (LCS) in Caen (France) as a doctorate student where he focused on the adsorption of phenol(s) from hydrocarbons using zeolites in the context of biofuels purification. During his Ph.D. he acquired extensive experience in infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), in-depth characterization of zeolites, and liquid- and gas-phase adsorption systems. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in October 2018.

Ibrahim joined the Dusselier lab in January 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focused on the development of metal supported on zeolites catalysts for the isomerization of C=C bonds in dienes (e.g., muconic acid). Between October 2020 and September 2023, he was awarded the junior FWO postdoctoral fellowship during which he pursued his studies on the development of highly dispersed metal on zeolite catalysts for the isomerization of muconic acid. Besides his research on materials science and catalysis, he was in charge of the spectroscopy platform in the CSCE (Dusselier lab and Sels group) where he shares his expertise to help designing new analysis protocols and correlate the catalytic activity of the catalysts with their structural properties. Since October 2023, Ibrahim was awarded the senior FWO postdoctoral fellowship where he will be developing new methods to analyze the confined acidity in small-pore zeolites with FT-IR spectroscopy. In addition, Ibrahim believes in the importance of teamwork and is engaged in several projects within the Dusselier lab next to being a co-promotor for two PhD students.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and friends next to reading history and philosophy and playing basketball.

Julien Devos

julien.devos@kuleuven.be

Julien Devos

Postdoctoral researcher


Julien obtained his BSc and MSc in Biosience Engineering at the KU Leuven in 2017 [He studied in part at the NTNU (Trondheim, Norway)]. Under the guidance of Prof. Dusselier he made a MSc thesis on zeolite synthesis: “Directing zeolite synthesis towards active catalysts for methane activation”. This work fortified his curiosity in the marvels of zeolite synthesis and its meaningful use. Upon graduation he joined the team and started a PhD focusing on efficient synthesis routes to relevant small pore zeolites (SSZ-13, SSZ-39, …) with the aim of creating efficient divalent cation catalysts with control over their active sites.

Julien is a Doctor since October 13, 2021!

Gleb Ivanushkin

gleb.ivanushkin@kuleuven.be

Gleb Ivanushkin

Postdoctoral researcher


Gleb obtained his MSc in Chemistry at the Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2018. The main thesis of his work was “Catalytic dehydrogenation of propane over Pt- and Sn-containing BEA zeolite”. Results of this work have a patent application. As part of his work, he participated in the development of a new catalyst for the Lebedev process (one-stage conversion of ethanol to butadiene), which resulted in successful pilot testing.  In his spare time he combines the feeding of ducks and mountain skis.

Gleb will study zeolite synthesis in unusual ways in his PhD in the Dusselier lab.

Juna Bae

juna.bae@kuleuven.be

Juna Bae

Postdoctoral researcher


Juna obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from POSTECH (Korea) in 2020 under the guidance of Prof. Suk Bong Hong. During her PhD, she focused on the discovery of zeolites with novel framework structures and/or compositions in the presence of simple organic structure-directing agents. In 2021, she joined the Dusselier Group, working on the synthesis of zeolites for use in acid-catalyzed dehydration reactions. 

Jose Alirio Mendoza Mesa

Jose.mendozamesa@kuleuven.be

Jose Alirio Mendoza Mesa

Postdoctoral researcher


Jose Alirio received his PhD in science-chemistry from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2020. His doctoral thesis was devoted to introducing mesopores inside of Y zeolite for cracking and hydrocracking reactions. The main results are in the process of being patented. In 2018, he joined the biorefinery and sustainable chemistry group at Max Planck Institute where he was conducting research about zeolite for green chemistry applications and photocatalytic reactions with the direction of Dr. Majd Al Naji. Jose Alirio has now started his postdoctoral research at Prof. Michiel Dusselier’s laboratory in KU Leuven (Belgium) and his research interest is in CO2 valorization using a bifunctional catalyst.

Jose Alirio enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and is very keen on sketching and dancing salsa.

Mohamad Alnarabiji

mohamad.alnarabiji@kuleuven.be

Mohamad Alnarabiji

Postdoctoral researcher


Mohamad is from Syria with bachelor’s in chemistry (Aleppo University, Syria) and MSc. & PhD. in Chemical Engineering (Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia).

Being synthesizing heterogeneous catalysts for more than a decade, Mohamad enjoys mixing chemicals via novel routes to produce materials with extraordinary properties. As a highly enthusiastic researcher, he worked in both sectors, academia and industry and supported several research groups in multidisciplinary research areas. Beside co-supervising BSc., MSc. and PhD. researchers, he has secured/assisted in securing several industrial research grants and published more than twenty scientific research papers in highly reputable indexed peer-reviewed journals.

His practical experience in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science, reactor design along with good knowledge of Computational Chemistry supported him to bridge the gap between understanding the fundamentals of materials development and its industrial applications in the green energy field. In 2022 he was awarded Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship, via European Commission, with Prof. Dusselier as a host to develop a novel method in catalyst synthesis using ionic liquid for CO2 utilization and valorization.

Sven Robijns

sven.robijns@kuleuven.be

Sven Robijns

PhD student


Sven obtained his MSc in Bioscience Engineering, catalytic technology, at KU Leuven University in 2020. His MSc thesis ‘A new generation of catalytic zeolites with tuned active site pockets’, was written at the laboratory of Prof. Dusselier. This research sparked his curiosity towards zeolite synthesis and the many unknowns the field still holds. Now, Sven’s research is aimed at exploring the adsorptive capacaties of small pore zeolites with different degrees of Al-pairing. In his spare time, he likes to swim and still plays an active roll in his local group of boyscouts.

Elena Brozzi

elena.brozzi@kuleuven.be

Elena Brozzi


Elena obtained her BSc in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2018, and afterwards participated in the Double Degree program, obtaining the MSc in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (option: Process Engineering) and KU Leuven (option: Environmental Enigneering), with the thesis ‘Design of a seeding section for continuous microfluidic paracetamol crystallization’ under the supervision of Prof. Simon Kuhn. She has started her PhD in September 2021 in the group of Prof. Simon Kuhn, with the support of Prof. Michiel Dusselier as co-promotor, where she moved from organic to inorganic crystallization, working on the development and optimization of continuous ultrasonic zeolite synthesis. In 2022, she was granted the FWO SB PhD Fellowship.

Amirhossein Javdani

amirhossein.javdani@kuleuven.be

Amirhossein Javdani

PhD student


Amir obtained his BSc in Chemical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnique) in 2015 and received his MSc in Chemical Engineering (option: Process Engineering) at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology (Iran) in 2019. His master's thesis was about preparing a suitable zeolite-based catalyst for the methanol conversion to propylene. During his thesis, he worked on heterogeneous catalyst preparation methods, characterization, testing, and lab to pilot commercial manufacturing process scale-up in collaboration with several catalyst manufacturing companies. Following his passion for heterogeneous catalysts, he worked in the catalyst industry for about two years.
He joined Dusselier's group in October 2021 as a doctoral student for the European Project "Z-EURECA." He will work on unconventional routes for zeolite synthesis through reactor development.
In his spare time, he likes swimming and hiking.

Foteini Lappa

foteini.lappa@kuleuven.be

Foteini Lappa

PhD student


Foteini obtained her Integrated Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. The thesis of her MSc was ‘’Catalytic conversion of bio-glycerol towards high added value chemical feedstocks’’. Her research sparked her interest in the combination of catalysis and green technologies. Her goal is to contribute to finding solutions for the environmental crisis and as a result, with her PhD in CO2 valorization she aims at developing catalytic materials and study the process of converting CO2 to chemicals. Except for science she likes spending time dancing and travelling.

Foteini will be obtain a PhD cotutelle at KU Leuven and the University of Liege, with Prof. G. Leonard.

Mostafa Torka Beydokhti

mostafa.torkabeydokhti@kuleuven.be

Mostafa Torka Beydokhti

PhD student


BSc: Chemical engineering, Petroleum University of Technology (2011-2015)

MSc: Chemical engineering, Thermo-kinetic field, Sharif University of Technology(2015-2018)Research project at the Catalysis and Nanostructured Materials Lab at the University of Tehran:

-Master thesis: Adsorption and conversion of heavy oil Asphaltene on composite Nanostructures
-Design and making a porotype device for elimination of motorcycle’s emissions by plasma-catalyst 
-Design and fabrication of a monolithic three-way catalytic converter for automotive pollutants
-Photocatalytic degradation of TCE in the contaminated air under UV and visible lights 
-Design and construction a delayed coking experimental pilot

Ahmed Sajid

ahmed.sajid@kuleuven.be

Ahmed Sajid

PhD student


Ahmed obtained his BE Chemical Engineering degree from National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad and master's in Chemical and Process Engineering from Aalto University, Finland. After undergraduate studies, he worked in a process industry where he discovered his passion towards a research oriented career in developing sustainable solutions for climate change problem by utilizing his chemical engineering knowledge. Following his passion, he worked on the development of heterogeneous metal oxide supported zinc copper-based catalysts for carbon dioxide conversion to methanol as a part of his master's thesis. His work at Aalto University was focused on catalysts synthesis, characterization and activity testing in continuous flow reactor.

Ahmed joined Dusselier's group in May 2023 as a doctoral researcher to further work on carbon dioxide conversion to olefins. His work will be focused on development of catalysts (metal oxides, zeolite synthesis), processes and performing mechanistic studies for CO2 conversion to olefins.
Besides Science, Ahmed is fond of travelling and music.

Lisa De Vriendt

lisa.devriendt@kuleuven.be

Lisa De Vriendt

PhD student


Lisa obtained her MSc in Bioscience Engineering, catalytic technology, at KU Leuven in 2023. Her MSc thesis on the selective catalytic transfer hydrogenation of muconic acid for bio-advantageous nylon-6,6, was done at the Dusselier group under supervision of Ibrahim Khalil. She is very excited to further explore this project during her stay at the Dusselier lab. She will also be working on other bioplastic related topics. In her free time, she coaches a young synchronized swimming team and competes with her own team.  

Iqtidar Ali Khan

iqtidarali.khan@kuleuven.be

Iqtidar Ali Khan

PhD student


Iqtidar completed his MSc and BSc in Chemical Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. For his master’s thesis, he worked on the non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation over titania-based catalysts, where he gained substantial expertise in synthesizing and characterizing catalysts.

Iqtidar joined Dusselier’s group in October 2023 as a PhD researcher. He will be working on the CO2-assisted propane dehydrogenation over zeolite-based catalysts. In his free time, he likes cooking and travelling.

Alumni

An Sofie Narmon

ansofie.narmon@kuleuven.be

An Sofie Narmon

Postdoctoral researcher


An Sofie obtained her MSc in Biosience Engineering (Catalytic Technology) at the KU Leuven in 2018. She performed her master’s thesis at the Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis under the guidance of Prof. Michiel Dusselier. During her thesis, she worked on the improvement of melt strength properties of polyester bioplastics via zeolite catalysis and stereospecific co-polymerisation in collaboration with KU Leuven’s department of Soft Matter Rheology and Technology. She recently started a PhD, expanding this research. In her spare time she likes running, playing music and being active as a voluntary youth animator.

Lilly Jenisch

lilly.jenisch@kuleuven.be

Lilly Jenisch

PhD student


Lilly graduated with an MSc in Chemistry from KU Leuven, after getting her BSc from the Technical University of Vienna. During her Erasmus at the University of Bath, she worked on the synthesis of polymers from sugar and CO2 in the context of her Bachelor’s thesis, which sparked her interest in bioplastics. Her research is looking into developing more environmentally friendly polymers for textile applications, since fibers are prone to polluting water ecosystems in the form of microplastics. In her spare time she likes to run, read, and make gingerbread houses.

Thibaut Donckels

thibaut.donckels@kuleuven.be

Thibaut Donckels

PhD student


Thibaut obtained his MSc in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic Technology) at KU Leuven in 2020. During his master’s thesis, which he performed under the guidance of Prof. Michiel Dusselier, he explored the interzeolite conversion of zincosilicate zeotypes. His obtained knowledge on zeolite synthesis came in handy during a two year research stay in the group, in which he explored CO2 to olefins chemistry in the gas phase.

During his free time, Thibaut likes to go for a run in the woods around Leuven.

Marco Giulio Rigamonti

marcogiulio.rigamonti@kuleuven.be

Marco Giulio Rigamonti

Postdoctoral researcher


Marco ( PhD. Chem. Eng.) is a postdoctoral researcher in Heterogeneous catalysis for CO2 valorization.

Marco studied chemical engineering at Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and graduated with top of marks in 2014, researching on enzymatic routes for APIs and stereoselective synthesis of natural compounds in Prof. F.G. Gatti’s laboratory. In 2015, he moved to Polytechnique de Montréal (Canada) where four years later he got his PhD under the supervision of Prof. G.S. Patience, working on spray drying and scale up for Li-ion battery manufacturing and catalyst synthesis for fluidized bed reactors. In 2020, he started his Postdoc research in the laboratory of Prof. Michiel Dusselier in KU Leuven (Belgium), to research heterogeneous catalysis (incl. synthesis) for CO2 valorization.

Meera Shah

meera.shah@kuleuven.be

Meera Shah

Postdoctoral researcher


Meera received her Masters degree in Natural Sciences from Durham University (UK) in 2016. She obtained her PhD in March 2020 with Dr Russell Taylor focussing on methane activation and functionalisation over zinc-modified zeolites, predominantly where the zinc was introduced by vapour deposition techniques. The project investigated the role of the zeolite framework and the nature of the zinc active site on methane activation. As a postdoctoral researcher, Meera will research synthesis and heterogenous catalysis for CO2 valorisation.   

Ander Portillo

ander.portillobazaco@student.kuleuven.be

Ander Portillo

PhD student


I obtained my Msc in Chemical Engineering at Universidad of Granada (UGR), after getting my BSc from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). During my Erasmus, at the Politechnika Wrocławska (PWR), I carried out my Master’s Thesis on analysis of alginate based beads for microalgae encapsulation. I started my PhD studies on University of the Basque Country on 2018 in the Catalytic Process and Waste Valorisation group, led by Prof. Javier Bilbao, under the supervision of Prof. Andrés Aguayo and Dr. Javier Ereña. My research is mainly based on joint CO2 and syngas valorisation into olefins, from catalysts synthesis and discrimination to kinetic modelling.

During my PhD, I already had the opportunity to work with Dusselier group and I am looking forward further collaboration, aiming to learn about zeolites and their interactions with metals. 


Quanli Ke

quanli.ke@kuleuven.be

Quanli Ke

Postdoctoral researcher


Quanli obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2018 at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, one of the top institutes among Chinese Academy of Sciences. During his PhD career, his research mainly focused on the synthesis, modification and functionalization of microporous zeolites. In the meantime, he also applied those zeolites to adsorption and catalysis processes such as CO2 capture and DeNOx. As a postdoctoral researcher, Quanli focuses on syntheses of specific topologies with enhanced properties. He stayed in the group for 2 years.

Sofia Tallarico

sofia.tallarico@student.kuleuven.be

Sofia Tallarico

PhD student


Sofia obtained her MSc in Chemistry at the University of Calabria in Cosenza (Italy) in 2015, with a master thesis in Analytical Chemistry on the development of new methodologies to analyse pollutants in water. She started her PhD in Life Sciences in 2017 at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro (Italy) in the Green Chemistry group led by Prof. Antonio Procopio, under the supervision of Dr. Manuela Oliverio. Her research is mainly focused on the valorization of agri-food processes based on the implementation of non-conventional strategies for the hydrothermal degradation of cellulose from waste biomasses to obtain value added chemicals.

In the network of PhD-Exchange she will be in Dusselier lab at KU Leuven for six months, where she aims to learn how to work with zeolites and how to handle with lactic acid, which is one of the lead compounds of her research.




Kevin Bruyninckx

kevin.bruyninckx@kuleuven.be

Kevin Bruyninckx

Postdoctoral researcher


Kevin has a MSc in Chemistry (KU Leuven, 2011). He obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2016 being part of a multidisciplinary team working on improving gluten-based bioplastic. His skillset ranges from organic and polymer synthesis to analysis of biomacromolecules and the evaluation of material properties. In our team, he has been involved in the synthesis of PLA-based polymers for the production of tailored biodegradable packaging.

Apart from his excellent scientific expertise, he is also part of a medal-winning skydiving team, investor in cryptocurrencies (never sell xrp) and enthusiastic cat-lover.

Rik De Clercq

rik.declercq@kuleuven.be

Rik De Clercq

PhD student


Rik obtained his MSc in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic Technology) at KU Leuven in 2013. He then started a PhD as an IWT-funded fellow under supervision of Prof. Sels and Prof. Dusselier, which he obtained in November 2017. His research focused on developing new catalytic processes for bio-based polyester building blocks. His results have been published in Angewandte Chemie and have resulted in a patent application. Aside from science, his interests lie in playing squash, hiking and travelling. 

After his PhD, Rik moved to Copenhagen to work for one year at Haldor Topsoe as a Research Scientist in the Sustainable Chemicals lab.

Aron Deneyer

aron.deneyer@kuleuven.be

Aron Deneyer

Postdoctoral researcher


Aron obtained his MSc in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic technology) at the KU Leuven in 2014. As an IWT-funded fellow, he obtained his PhD in 2018 under the guidance of Prof. Sels and Prof. Dusselier at the Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis. His research focused on biomass conversion and especially the catalytic valorization of sugar streams towards drop-in chemicals (5 first-author publications, including one in Nature Energy). As a postdoctoral researcher, Aron aims to develop a new reactor platform for zeolite synthesis. Aron stayed in the group for 1 year.

Nuria Martín

nuria.martin@kuleuven.be

Nuria Martín

Postdoctoral researcher


Nuria obtained her BSc and MSc in Chemistry at the University of Salamanca. She obtained her PhD in sustainable chemistry in 2017 under the guidance of Dr. Manuel Moliner at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, Valencia). During her PhD she acquired extensive experience in the synthesis of zeolites, tuning its physico-chemical properties for their use as catalysts in relevant industrial processes such as the selective catalytic reduction of NOx or methanol to olefins. As a result of her PhD she has published 8 papers in high level peer reviewed journals, and she has 8 patents transferred to industry. Recently she has got a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship with Prof. Michiel Dusselier as supervisor. Now, with her ambitious ZEOCO2 project, she aim to design, synthesize and use different zeolites as catalysts to transform the CO2 into useful chemicals and fuels. She stayed in the group for 2 years.