Designing The Future:
Electro-, Photo- And Thermo-Chemical Water Splitting

Within the framework of the COST activity #18234 we would like to invite you to the conference “Designing the Future: Electro-. Photo-, and Thermochemical water splitting”, which will take place on 20 – 22 February 2023, in the heart of Europe, in the beautiful city of Brussels

This conference is seeking to bring together professionals with theoretical, experimental, and practical expertise in the subject areas of:

  • Atomic-scale modelling of materials for water splitting 
  • Materials for photochemical and electrochemical water splitting 
  • Thermochemical water splitting cycles 
  • Thermochemical energy storage with water splitting 
  • Macroscopic modelling 

The conference will consist of:

  • 2 days of presentations and posters in the framework of electro-, photo- and thermochemical water splitting
  • 1 day dedicated to Modelling and Machine Learning (Reactive Force Fields, Density Functional Theory Tight Binding, Neural Networks, Evolutionary Algorithms, SISSO, Machine Learning Potentials, etc.) 

The event will be organized in person to promote the progress in the field, exchange ideas, establish new academic links and collaborations.

A proposal for a dedicated peer-reviewed issue of Catalysis Today is ongoing.

We encourage the presentation of new/original research which could be published in this special issue.  We look forward to hosting you at this event – free of charge – and to learn from your contribution (oral or poster).

Confirmed:

Maytal Caspary Toroker

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

Presentation title: TBA

Thomas Bligaard

Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Accelerating catalysis simulations with surrogate machine learning models

Gianfranco Pacchioni‬

University of Milano Bicocca, Italy

DFT modelling of electrocatalysis by single-atoms: handle with care

Wojciech Lipiński

Independent, Australia

Mixed metal oxides for enhanced solar fuel production via
thermochemical redox cycling

Kai Exner

University Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Theoretical Description of Energy Storage and Conversion Processes

Monica Calatayud

University Pierre and Marie Curie, France

Hydrogen and TiO2: surface or subsurface

Toon Verstraelen

Gent University, Belgium

Physical constraints on polarization and charge transport in machine-learning potentials.

Raúl Molina

King Juan Carlos University, Spain

Macroscopic structures of non-stoichiometric mixed oxides for hydrogen production by low temperature thermochemical water splitting

Farid Safari

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Canada

Presentation title: TBA

Jose Gomes

University of Aveiro, Portugal

Chemical reactions at the surface of MXenes

Matthijs van Berkel

DIFFER – Dutch Institute For Fundamental Energy Research, The Netherlands

Microkinetic modeling from a systems and control perspective

Bartłomiej Szyja

Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland

Active sites and mechanism of water splitting on mixed oxidesfrom DFT level MD simulations

Isabela Man

Center of Organic Chemistry “C.D. Nenitescu”, Romania

Effect of surface protonation of TiO2 (101)/(100) anatase surfaces on water splitting overpotentials

Giovanni Di Liberto

University of Milan Bicocca, Italy

Role of Superoxo and Peroxo Complexes in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Single-Atom Catalysts

Xavier Solans Monfort

Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

Supported Ru and RuO2@Ru nanoparticles for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution: structural and electronic effects on their catalytic activity

Uğur Bozkaya

Hacettepe University, Turkey

Molecular Fragmentation Approaches for Electron Correlation Methods

Stanislav Záliš

J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Republic

Modelling of excited-state dynamics of Re photo-sensitizer

Peter Vancso

Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Hungary

Quasi-flat Pt nanoclusters on MoS2 for efficient hydrogen evolution

Dorota Rutkowska-Zbik

Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry,Poland

DFT Studies of Vanadium-based systems for electro- and photochemistry

Marc Koper

Leiden University, The Netherlands

Mechanisms of electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Francesc Illas

University of Barcelona, Spain

Modeling and understanding hydroxylation of TiO2 nanoparticles: One more step towards approaching realistic systems

Martin Roeb

German Aerospace Center, Germany

Status and Trends in Solar Thermochemical Fuel Generation

Florian Libisch

Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Machine learning for ab-initio defect parametrization

Ricardo Grau-Crespo

University of Reading, United Kingdom

Spinel oxides for photocatalysis: DFT modelling and experimental characterization

Konstantin Neyman

University of Barcelona, Spain

Surprising oxidation of platinum in subnano-state: Insights from catalytic experiments and DFT modelling

Fedor Goumans

SCM – Software for Chemistry and Materials, The Netherlands

Parametrizing DFTB, ReaxFF, and machine learned potentials with ParAMS

Remo Schäppi

ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Fuel from sunlight and air – demonstration of the thermochemical pathway

Said Hamad Gomez

Pablo de Olavide University, Spain

Tuning the properties of photocatalytic ZIFs: mixing and nucleation

Eugene Kotomin

University of Latvia, Latvia

The perovskite band engineering for photostimulated water splitting

Leonhard Mayrhofer

Fraunhofer Institute, Germany

DFT investigations of interfacial contact charge separation

Vesselin Tonchev

Sofia University, Bulgaria

Studying crystallization between 2 and 3D: Cellular Automata vs. analytical model

Yuri Mastrikov

University of Latvia, Latvia

Water splitting on stepped STO surface

Veerapandian Ponnuchamy

Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

ReaxFF study of dehydration mechanism of surface doped salt hydrates for thermochemical heat storage

Diana Bergmann

International University of Applies Sciences, Germany

Presentation title: TBA

Sean Pachmanov-Dvir

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

Presentation title: TBA

Veera Krasnenko

University of Tartu, Estonia

Ab Initio Calculations of the Raman Spectra of  Thin Strontium Titanate Films

Bryan Goldsmith

University of Michigan, USA

Interpretable “transparent box” machine learning to understand materials and catalytic properties

Veton Haziri

UBT College, Kosovo

A gateway for ion transport on gas bubbles pinned onto solids

Yuheng Zhao

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

DFT Investigation of interactions between poly(adp-ribose) and metal ions in biomineralizatio

Shohreh Faridi

University Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Computational Study on MXenes as Bifunctional Catalyst for Metal-Air Batteries.

Fileto Rodriguez

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Postet title: TBA

Rafał Stottko

Wrocław University of Science and Technology,Poland

Procedure to indicate stable CuNi clusters based on machine learning methods

María Orfila Del Hoyo

King Juan Carlos University, Spain

Macroscopic shaping of mixed metal oxides for thermochemical hydrogen production

Ali Moussadik

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Effects of W/Mo co-doping on the photoelectrochemical properties of BiVO4 photoanodes for solar water splitting: A density functional theory study

Loic Dumortier

Gent University, Belgium

BalancedLoss: A Weightless Cost-Function for ReaxFF Optimization

Eleonora Romeo

University of Barcelona, Spain

Electrochemical symmetry in the oxygen evolution reaction

Jose Luis Nunez

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

DFT Studies of H2O dissociation on Iridium Oxide-modified CNTs.

Samad Razzaq

University Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Method to determine bifunctional index of the oxygen electrocatalysis

Vipin Kumar

Tel Aviv University, Israel

Oxygen reduction reaction on pristine and N-doped nanosheet comparison study by implicit and explicit solvent model

Miguel Recio

University of Barcelona, Spain

Crystal properties without crystallinity? Influence of surface hydroxylation on the structure and properties of small TiO2 nanoparticles

Ali Emre Genç

Gazi University, Turkey

Catch the Heat!

Location

HOEK 38
Leuvenseweg 38
1000 Brussel
+32-2-512 91 10

Auditorium Room

Directions

  • From the airport: Train to Brussels: Central Station
  • By train: Brussels, Central Station. From the Central Station it’s only a 5 minute walk to the FWO.
  • By metro (MIVB): Metrostation Central Station or Park
    • From Station Brussels North: metro Rogier, line 2 or 6 direction Koning Boudewijn or Simonis (Leopold II) until Park, then line 1 (direction Weststation) (stop Central Station or Park)
    • From station Brussels South: line 2 or 6 direction Simonis (Elisabeth), then line 1 (direction Weststation) (stop Central Station or Park)
  • Parking: You can use the Indigo Parking Royal: de Lignestraat 27, 1000 Brussel (24/7)

Program

20th of February

Time

Speaker / Title

8:30 – 9:30
Registration and Opening Session (Ionut Tranca)
9:30 – 10:00
Maytal Caspary Toroker / TBA
10:00 – 10:30
Marc Koper / Mechanisms of electrochemical hydrogen evolution
10:30 – 10:45
Dorota Rutkowska Zbik / DFT Studies of Vanadium-based systems for electro- and photochemistry
10:45 – 11:00
Diana Bergmann / TBA
11:00 – 11:15
COFFEE BREAK
11:15 – 11:30
Xavier Solans Monfort / Supported Ru and RuO2@Ru nanoparticles for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution: structural and electronic effects on their catalytic activity
11:30 – 11:45
Peter Vancso / Quasi-flat Pt nanoclusters on MoS2 for efficient hydrogen evolution
11:45 – 12:15
Jose Gomes / Chemical reactions at the surface of MXenes
12:15 – 13:45
LIGHT LUNCH (13:15 – 13:45 COST Core Group meeting)
13:45 – 14:15
Monica Calatayud / Hydrogen and TiO2: surface or subsurface
14:15 – 14:45
Konstantin Neyman / Surprising oxidation of platinum in subnano-state: Insights from catalytic experiments and DFT modelling
14:45 – 15:15
Gianfranco Pacchioni / DFT modelling of electrocatalysis by single-atoms: handle with care
15:15 – 15:30
COFFEE BREAK
15:30 – 15:45
Giovanni di Liberto / Role of Superoxo and Peroxo Complexes in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Single-Atom Catalysts
15:45 – 16:00
Leonhard Mayrhofer / DFT investigations of interfacial contact charge separation
16:00 – 16:15
Isabela Man / Effect of surface protonation of TiO2 (101) / (100) anatase surfaces on water splitting overpotentials
16:15 – 16:30
Bartłomiej Szyja / Active sites and mechanism of water splitting on mixed oxides from DFT level MD simulations
16:30 – 18:00
COST MC (Management Committee) meeting

21th of February

Time

Speaker / Title

9:00 – 9:30
Remo Schäppi / Fuel from sunlight and air – demonstration of the thermochemical pathway
9:30 – 10:00
Wojciech Lipiński (online) / Mixed metal oxides for enhanced solar fuel production via thermochemical redox cycling
10:00 – 10:30
Raul Molina Gil / Macroscopic structures of non-stoichiometric mixed oxides for hydrogen production by low temperature thermochemical water splitting
10:30 – 10:45
COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 11:00
Veera Pandian Ponnuchamy (online) / ReaxFF study of dehydration mechanism of surface doped salt hydrates for thermochemical heat storage
11:00 – 11:30
Martin Roeb / Status and Trends in Solar Thermochemical Fuel Generation
11:30 – 12:00
PHOTOSESSION
12:00 – 13:00
LIGHT LUNCH
13:00 – 13:30
Eugene Kotomin / The perovskite band engineering for photostimulated water splitting
13:30 – 14:00
Said Hamad Gomez / Tuning the properties of photocatalytic ZIFs: mixing and nucleation
14:00 – 14:30
Ricardo Grau-Crespo / Spinel oxides for photocatalysis: DFT modelling and experimental characterization
14:30 – 14:45
Yuri Mastrikov / Water splitting on stepped STO surface
14:45 – 15:00
Veera Krasnenko / Ab Initio Calculations of the Raman Spectra of Thin Strontium Titanate Films
15:00 – 15:15
Stanislav Záliš / Modelling of excited-state dynamics of Re photo-sensitizer
15:15 – 15:30
COFFEE BREAK
15:30 – 17:30
POSTER SESSION

22th of February

Time

Speaker / Title

9:00 – 9:30
Florian Libisch / Machine learning for ab-initio defect parametrization
9:30 – 10:00
Matthijs van Berkel / Microkinetic modeling from a systems and control perspective
10:00 – 10:45
COFFEE BREAK
10:45 – 11:05
Fedor Goumans / Parametrizing DFTB, ReaxFF, and machine learned potentials with ParAMS
11:05 – 11:20
Sean Pachmanov-Dvir / TBA
11:20 – 11:50
Toon Verstraelen / Physical constraints on polarization and charge transport in machine-learning potentials.
11:50 – 13:00
LIGHT LUNCH
13:00 – 13:30
Francesc Illas / Modeling and understanding hydroxylation of TiO2 nanoparticles: One more step towards approaching realistic systems
13:30 – 14:00
Kai Exner / Theoretical Description of Energy Storage and Conversion Processes
14:00 – 14:30
Bryan Goldsmith (online) / Interpretable “transparent box” machine learning to understand materials and catalytic properties
14:30 – 14:45
Hannu-Pekka Komsa (online) / Machine-learning force fields and polarizability models for Raman spectra of complex systems
14:45 – 15:00
COFFEE BREAK
15:00 – 15:30
Uğur Bozkaya / Molecular Fragmentation Approaches for Electron Correlation Methods
15:30 – 16:00
Shyue Ping Ong (online) / The Materials 3-body Graph Network (M3GNet) Universal Potential for Materials Design
16:00 – 16:30
Jim Lutsko / Understanding crystallization pathways using classical DFT
16:30 – 16:45
Vesselin Tonchev (online) / Studying crystallization between 2 and 3D: Cellular Automata vs. analytical model
16:45 – 17:15
Closing remarks (Frederik Tielens)

Maytal Caspary Toroker

Michele Pavone

Anja Bieberle-Hütter

Sofia Calero

Nicolae Goga

José R. B. Gomes

Francesc Illas

Eugene Kotomin

Florian Libisch

Tomasz Wesolowski

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Netherlands

Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain

Polytechnic of Bucharest, Romania

University of Aveiro, Portugal

University of Barcelona, Spain

University of Latvia, Latvia

Vienna University of Technology, Austria

University of Geneva, Switzerland

Brussels Town Hall

In the heart of the majestic Grand-Place, the political, administrative, and public importance of this historical building, coupled with its stunning architecture, make it an imposing sight to behold. The Brussels Town Hall, with its emblematic inner rooms, serves as a marvelous example of 15th and 19th century heritage.

Atomium

An unmistakable symbol of Brussels and Belgium and a unique feat in the history of architecture: today, the Atomium is the most popular attraction in the capital of Europe. Built for the 1958 World’s Fair, it is a model of a crystalline iron molecule magnified 165 billion times. The upper sphere offers unique, spectacular views of Brussels.

BOZAR

Erected in 1928 by architect and Art Nouveau master Victor Horta, BOZAR is a centre of cultural and artistic life, with a variety of exhibitions, concerts, and events. A full renovation of the interior restored the original appearance of the building. Organized tours allow visitors to discover parts of the building previously off limits to the public.

Natural Sciences Museum

Meet the famous Bernissart Iguanodons in the largest Dinosaur Gallery in Europe. Learn about the human body in the Gallery of Humankind and go back in time in the Gallery of Evolution. You can also find out about urban species in BiodiverCITY or discover specimens which illustrate the Museum’s history in the 250 years of Natural Sciences hall.

Parlamentarium

The world of the European Parliament can be discovered at the Parlamentarium. Start your tour with a journey through European history and integration. Take a seat in the cinema of the Parlamentarium and get a 360° view of Europe and of its Parliament. Discover how the Parliament works, how laws are made and why European politics matter.

Art Nouveau

From 1890, the new generation of architects decided to break with the styles of the past, and their Art Nouveau gave the houses of Brussels a new look. Horta, Cauchie, Hankar, Blérot and others revolutionized construction by their use of iron, resulting in iconic buildings such as the Masion Autrique, the Horta Museum or the former “Old England” store.

Comic Strips

Brussels is the place where many legendary comic book characters were born – Tintin, Spirou, Gaston Lagaffe, Marsupilami, and the Smurfs, to name a few. In Brussels they appear life-sized on the facades of buildings, tell their stories at the Comics Art Museum, and are exhibited and sold in a host of specialist bookshops and galleries.

Gastronomy

Brussels gastronomy has a long history with deep-rooted traditions, quality produce and bold flavours. Among the many Belgian specialities, chocolate, beer and frites are long-standing favourite taste-sensations. The more than 2000 restaurants in Brussels serving the cuisines of different nations make it possible to discover the flavours of the world.

Jazz

The Alhambra, the Hot Club, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Django Reinhardt – some of the great places and stars who have given Brussels an international reputation. These days, emblematic jazz places, such as Jazz Station, the Music Village, Sounds Jazz Club and the Archiduc, still give pride of place to jazz, which is still very much alive and well.