Pascal Buskens

POSITION: PROFESSOR | NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS TNO UNIT: INDUSTRY (MATERIALS SOLUTIONS) UNIVERSITY: HASSELT UNIVERSITY (SCIENCES / CHEMISTRY)   TNO LOCATION: EINDHOVEN, HIGH TECH CAMPUS 25 EMAIL: PASCAL.BUSKENS@TNO.NL TEL: +31631792891

RESEARCH AREA

The gastprofessoraat ‘Nanostructured Materials’ is positioned at Hasselt University (UHasselt) in the Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry and the Institute for Materials Research (imo-imomec). The gastprofessoraat is hosted by the research group Inorganic and Physical Chemistry (IPC), which is headed by prof. dr. M. K. Van Bael and prof. dr. A. Hardy. This research group is experienced in the design, synthesis and characterization of advanced inorganic materials and coatings, mostly metal oxides. The gastprofessoraat ‘Nanostructured Materials’ bridges the expertise in design, synthesis and characterization of advanced inorganic materials and coatings, to two areas of application which are of strategic interest for TNO and Brightlands Materials Center: sunlight-fueled sustainable chemical processes, and building envelope materials for sustainable buildings.

In the field of sunlight-fueled chemistry, the primary focus is on the design of inorganic catalysts for photohydrogenation of CO₂ to C1-chemicals and fuels like CH₄ and CO. This field of research can be successfully exploited through coupling of the expertise in preparation of inorganic materials at UHasselt to the expertise in catalysis and plasmonics made available by me and supported by further competences and infrastructure available from the TNO departments Materials Solutions (Eindhoven/Geleen) and Optics (Delft). The focus of this research is the elucidation of the reaction mechanism and underlying physical principles of plasmon catalytic chemical conversions. This knowledge can then be applied by TNO for rational optimization of sunlight-fueled chemical processes.

In the field of building envelope materials for sustainable buildings, the primary focus is on materials and coatings that provide advanced solar control functionalities to architectural glazing units, and materials and coatings for improving the optical efficiency and/or aesthetics of building-integrated photovoltaic modules. This field of research can be successfully exploited through coupling of the expertise in preparation and in-depth characterization of inorganic materials at UHasselt and the expertise in functional coatings and nano-pigmented polymer films available from me. This is supported by further competences and infrastructure available from the TNO departments Materials Solutions (Eindhoven/Geleen) and Optics (Delft). Multiple products/functionalities are part of this research line, with as current prototypical example thermochromic coatings for solar control glazing, addressing following key research questions: (A) How can dopants effectively be integrated in thermochromic VO₂ crystals, to lower the switching temperature from 68°C to 20-30°C with minimum negative impact on the solar modulation? (B) Which balance between transmission in the visible and solar modulation behaviour is achievable for nanoporous thermochromic VO₂ coatings on glass, which are produced through packing of VO₂ nanoparticles? This knowledge can be applied by TNO and Brightlands Materials Center for rational optimization of solar control windows for architectural glazing.

My research contributes closely to the TNO roadmap ‘Sustainable Chemical Industry’ and Brightlands Materials Center.

RECENT RESULTS

• Ru metal catalyst that facilitates CO₂ methanation below 250 °C using sunlight as an energy source. Although at low solar intensity (1 sun) the activity of the Ru catalyst is mainly attributed to thermal effects, we identified a large nonthermal contribution at slightly elevated intensities (5.7 and 8.5 sun) resulting in a high photon-to-methane efficiency of up to 55% over the whole solar spectrum.
• Design, preparation and characterization of Au and Ag nanoshells and Au semishells with tailored plasmonic properties.
• Design, preparation and characterization of antireflective coatings for application on glass sheets and polymer films.

PHD SUPERVISION

• Daria Burova (Funding source: Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland, project LUMEN – Sunlight as fuel for sustainable chemical processes)
• Lavinia Calvi (Funding source: NWO SIA, RAAK Pro project Window of the Future)
• Margot Segers (Funding source: TNO ERP)
• Daniel Mann (Funding source: DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials e.V.)

TOP PUBLICATIONS

• Sastre, C. Versluis, N. Meulendijks, J. Rodríguez-Fernández, J. Sweelssen, K. Elen, M. K. Van Bael, T. den Hartog, M. A. Verheijen, P. Buskens, Sunlight-Fueled, Low-Temperature Ru-Catalyzed Conversion of CO₂ and H₂ to CH₄ with a High Photon-to-Methane Efficiency. ACS Omega 2019, 4, 7369.
• Mann, D. Nascimento-Duplat, H. Keul, M. Möller, M. Verheijen, M. Xu, H. P. Urbach, A. J. L. Adam, P. Buskens, The Influence of Particle Size Distribution and Shell Imperfections on the Plasmon Resonance of Au and Ag Nanoshells. Plasmonics 2017, 12, 929-945.
• Buskens, M. Burghoorn, M. C. D. Mourad, Z. Vroon, Antireflective Coatings for Glass and Transparent Polymers. Langmuir 2016, 32, 6781-6793.

LINKS

• UHasselt personal page: https://www.uhasselt.be/fiche?voornaam=pascal&naam=buskens#fiche
• UHasselt IPC group website: https://www.uhasselt.be/UH/IMO/Visit-the-groups/Inorganic-and-physical-chemistry-(IPC).html
• UHasselt imo-imomec website: https://www.uhasselt.be/IMO
• Brightlands Materials Center website: https://www.brightlandsmaterialscenter.com/programs/sustainable-buildings/
• Project LUMEN website: www.project-lumen.com
• Publications: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=9yyojbQAAAAJ&hl=nl
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascal-buskens-4a211332/