Louk Rademaker is visiting fellow at Leiden University, Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics. He studies theoretical quantum matter physics, connecting the material science to fundamental concepts and methods.

Projects in the department of Environmental Biology

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generation via electrochemical oxygen reduction is a sustainable production method for this bulk chemical. However, the selectivity of molecular catalysts for electrochemical H2O2 generation has hardly been investigated in a systematic manner, and it is unknown if their stability…

The dissociative chemisorption of methane on metal surfaces is of fundamental and practical interest, being a rate-limiting step in the steam reforming process. The reaction is best modeled with quantum dynamics calculations, but these are currently not guaranteed to produce accurate results because…

Nonadiabatic energy transfer from the translational motion (T) of a molecule impinging on metal surface to the metal’s electrons may determine whether the molecule can lose enough energy to adsorb or react.

PhD defence

In 2020, Leiden University launched its stimulated interdisciplinary programs, including one focused on regenerative medicine.

PhD defence

How can you tie together scientific research and practical applications? That is exactly what Professor of Translational Data Science Marco Spruit is concerned with, he tells FMT Gezondheid. 'It's about taking socially relevant questions as a starting point for your research.'

The "Van Marum Colloquia" are a collaborative lecture series between the LION and LIC institutes, focusing on fundamental and applied surface science.

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

The van Exter group has an extensive history of prior research in classical and quantum optics. As former part of the group of Han Woerdman, we have studied topics as diverse as:

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Chemical biology research at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry is aimed at understanding biological processes at the molecular level to strengthen the knowledge base of human health and disease. The approach to achieve this goal is a fundamental chemical one; with the aid of chemical probes biological…

The goal of the research presented in this thesis was to explore the chemical space of ruthenium(II) photocages, investigate their ability to host potent chemotherapy drugs, and to red shift the activation wavelength of the most promising PACT candidates to conduct biological studies.

The mechanism of the electrochemical reduction of dioxygen by a mononuclear pyridylalkylamine copper complex was investigated (see picture). It was shown that in neutral aqueous solution dioxygen undergoes stepwise reduction, wherein hydrogen peroxide plays a key role. The rate constants determined…

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading global cause of mortality. Endothelial dysfunction, an early reversible stage of CVD development, is marked by decreased nitric oxide production linked to Ca2+ influx in endothelial cells.

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-promotor: J.B.F. Juurlink

In this dissertation iron-based homogeneous catalysts were synthesized, characterized and investigated for water oxidation activity.

On the 12th of November, Xander Vertegaal successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Xander on this achievement!

This thesis presents insights from our study of various correlated electron systems with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In ordinary metals, electron-electron interactions exist, but get substantially screened due to the sheer number of electrons.

The external tissues of plants and animals are colonized by microbial communities termed microbiota. When organisms are exposed to environmental pollutants, these substances will therefore encounter microbiota at the exposure interface.

In this work, we illustrate unconventional approaches towards the fabrication of edge functionalized graphene nanostructures and bidimensional architectures in polymeric and metallic supports, with an outlook towards molecular sensing devices.

The Archaeology of Consumption in the Eastern Mediterranean (ca. 500-1500)

This thesis addresses the challenge of sustainable urban development by analyzing the interplay between green and grey infrastructure to optimize resource use and ecosystem services.

Promotor: P. T. de Zeeuw, Co-promotor: N. Neumayer; G. van de Ven

Human civilization consumes a huge amount of fossil fuels, which has resulted in an atmospheric CO2 level which has not been higher in over 800 millennia.

With the energy transition toward a renewable energy supply and a CO2-neutral economy, electrification of the energy system is rising in importance, which leads to the challenge of long-term storage of renewable electricity.

This thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China.

Promotores: G.W. Canters, T.J. Aartsma

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.J.A. Rottgering, Co-promotor: David Sobral

Biopolymer sequencing with graphene edge-based tunnel junctions has the potential to overcome current limitations with the third generation of sequencing based on biological nanopores.

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

On the 23rd of June Arianna Sacco successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Kaveh Lahabi's lab explores the exotic physics of quantum materials, whose underlying physics seems to have more in common with elementary particles and black holes, than ordinary metals and semiconductors.

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an essential half-reaction for the utilization of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel, via the conversion of hydrogen to electrons and protons facilitated by the ORR. In the most common fuel cells, the ORR is requires high loadings of non-abundant platinum…

The main goal of the research described in this thesis was the development of new photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) ruthenium(II) complexes bearing a non-toxic photolabile ligand.

The growing demand of energy indicates that global energy resources in the form of fossil fuels will not be sufficient in the future. In order to solve potential future energy problems development of a sustainable hydrogen economy is highly desirable.

Are you graduating at the Faculty of Science? Or are you supervising a PhD student? At the Graduate School of Science you find support at every phase of your PhD.

Marc Koper’s research focuses on electrocatalysis and electrochemical surface science for sustainable energy and chemistry. Reactions of interest are the redox reactions of the oxygen/hydrogen cycle (water oxidation, hydrogen evolution), the carbon cycle (reduction of carbon dioxide, oxidation of small…

Scattering of light in the presence of nano-structured materials, i.e. with features in the order of the wavelength of the light or smaller, reveals details of how light interacts with matter at the nanoscale.

When observing star-forming galaxies, we are not only seeing stellar light, but we also see how this interacts with galactic gas and dust. This thesis contains studies of the stellar, nebular and dust properties of low mass star-forming galaxies.

Hydrocarbonylation of alkenes with carboxylic acids in synthesis of carboxylic acid anhydrides is relatively less explored. We herein present a study and optimization of a palladium-catalyzed hydrocarbonylation reaction of alkenes using carboxylic acids as the nucleophile, by which acid anhydrides can…

High-angular-resolution observations of the circumstellar material have uncovered numerous and very diverse substructures in protoplanetary discs, raising the question of whether they are caused by forming planets or other mechanisms.

In this dissertation, the synthesis and characterization of a series of iron complexes based on different ligand platforms are described.