Laboratory of Materials for Renewable Energy ‐ EPFL

**Energy storage materials – Hydrogen – Hydrides – CO₂ Reduction – Hydrocarbons – Catalysis**

NEWS


	November 2022 17th International Symposium on Metal Hydrogen Systems (MH2022) PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA Chair: Craig Buckley
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	23. – 28. January, 2022 15th INT’L SYMPOSIUM HYDROGEN & ENERGY and 2nd INT. SYMPOSIUM HYDROGENOMICS Chair: Andreas ZÜTTEL; Shin_Ichi ORIMO Conference Manager: Ivana SUTER SEEBLICK HÖHENHOTEL Emmetten, Switzerland
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	21. June 2021 Seminar talk, EPFL Valais/Wallis 11:00 – 12:00 EPFL Valais/Wallis ZOOM Prof. Dr. Luca LIETTI “CO2 hydrogenation to CH4 over Ru-based catalysts” Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano (Italy) Abstract ZOOM Link
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	17. June 2021 Seminar talk, EPFL Valais/Wallis 10:30 – 11:30 EPFL Valais/Wallis ZOOM Mr. Rui LI “Development of High Capacity TiFe-MmNi5 & Ti-Zr-Mn based and the Improvement their Activation Performance” Institute of Rare Metals, Guangdong Academy of Sciences No.363, Changxing Rd. Tianhe District, Guangzhou, P.R. China Abstract ZOOM Link
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	10. Mai 2021 Seminar talk, EPFL Valais/Wallis 11:00 – 12:00 EPFL Valais/Wallis ZOOM Dr. Guillaume BRAESCH “High performance direct borohydride fuel cell using non-PGM electrocatalysts” LEPMI, Grenoble-INP 1130, rue de la piscine, 38610 Gières, France Abstract
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	1. Mai 2021 Dr. Loris LOMBARDO goes to Japan! Thank you very much for all you did for LMER, your creative spirit and your gentle personality! We wish you all the best for the future challenges, a lot of success and satisfaction! Congratulation for the “Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)-SNF” award! Post Doc at: HORIKE LAB. \| SOLID STATE MOLECULAR CHEMISTRY MATERIALS OF IONICS, GLASS, AND OPEN FRAMEWORKS Building #31 Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) Research Bldg Yoshidahonmachi Sakyo Ward 606-8317 Kyoto Japan HORIKE LAB.
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	26. April 2021 Seminar talk, EPFL Valais/Wallis 11:00 – 12:00 EPFL Valais/Wallis ZOOM Prof. Dr. Andreas SCHMIDT-OTT Gas Phase Production of Nanoparticles down to the Atomic Cluster Range by Spark Ablation Faculty of Applied Sciences, ChemE, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ Delft, Netherlands and Energy Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus Abstract
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	20. April 2021 Seminar talk, EPFL Valais/Wallis 11:00 – 12:00 EPFL Valais/Wallis ZOOM Prof. Vijay K. RAMANI High Performance Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells (DBFCs) incorporating pH- gradient-enabled Microscale Bipolar Interfaces (PMBIs) Zhongyang Wang, Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, and Vijay K. Ramani Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering Washington University in St Louis Abstract
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	19. April 2021 Ms. Zohreh AKBARI, PhD candidate WELCOME! “Catalytic combustion of hydrogen”, Synthesis of catalysts, investigation of the hydrogen combustion reaction
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	18. March 2021 14:00 – 15:00 Dr. Loris LOMBARDO Public PhD defence “Decreasing the Stability of Borohydride with Ionic Liquids for Hydrogen Storage and Carbon Dioxide Conversion“ Zoom link: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/89560176324?pwd=enBOTGE5MEs4cm1Gb3I4QWNLNWtmZz09
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	1. March 2021 Dr. Liping ZHONG, Post Doc WELCOME! “NAP-XPS on catalytic surfaces”
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	31. January 2021 Dr. Heena YANG Thank you very much for all your contributions to the group and the great achievements! We wish you all the best with your future challenges, a lot of luck, pleasure and satisfaction. Korea research institute of chemical technology (KRICT) N1-201, 141, Gajung-ro, Yousung-gu 34114 Daejeon Republic of Korea e: [email protected] U: https://english.krict.re.kr/eng/main
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	25. January 2021 PhD defence Mr. Loris LOMBARDO CONGRATULATIONS! Thesis “Decreasing the Stability of Borohydride with Ionic Liquids for Hydrogen Storage and Carbon Dioxide Conversion” Prof. B. Smit, président du jury Prof. A. Züttel, directeur de thèse Dr M. Dornheim, rapporteur Prof. T. R. Jensen, rapporteur Prof. P. J. Dyson, rapporteur
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	22. December 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:00 – 11:00, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Ms. Zixuan NIU School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, No.4800 Caoan Road, Shanghai, China. “Fabrication and Properties of Fibre-based Composite Phase Change Materials” Abstract
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	1. December 2020 Mr. Cedric David KOOLEN, PhD student WELCOME! “Catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction”
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	1. December 2020 Power-to-Gas Magazine Dossier Public Automne 2020 “Special Environment Energie” Power-to-Gas Movie Power to Gas (Gaznat)
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	30. November 2020 Dr. Kun ZHAO We wish you all the best and a lot of success with the new challenge. Department of Chemistry University of Washington 4000 15th Ave NE 36 Bagley Hall Seattle, WA 98195-1700, USA T: +1 206 616 2324 e: [email protected]
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	19. November 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:00 – 11:00, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Dr. Liping ZHONG ICPEES, UMR7515-CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, 25 rue Becquerel, 67200 STRASBOURG, France “Using NAP-XPS to identify the optimum surface state of cobalt catalysts for CO preferential oxidation in H2-rich” Abstract
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	11. November 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 18:00 – 18:30, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Dr. Kun ZHAO EPFL Valais/Wallis, Sion, Switzerland “Steady-state Study on Hydrogenation of the Intermediate of CO2 methanation” Abstract
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	11. November 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 17:00 – 18:00, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Prof. Dr. Charles T. Campbell Department of Chemistry University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1700 USA “Oxide-supported metal nanoparticles: predicting how size and support affect metal atom energetics and thus catalytic performance” Abstract
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	25. September 2020 Inauguration of the Sabatier reactor 11:00 – 14:00, PDC Sion “Du gaz plus propre pour le Valais central“, Le Nouvelliste Directeur René BAUTZ, CEO Gaznat President Philippe VARONE, Président de Sion, VS Directeur François FELLAY, Directeur général at OIKEN Prof. Dr. Andreas ZÜTTEL, EPFL Valais/Wallis Directeur Gilles VERDAN, Gaznat M. Dominique LUISIER, Gaznat Dr. Noris GALLANDAT, Dr. Emmanuele MOIOLI, M. Krzysztof ROMANOWICZ
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	1. July 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:30 – 12:00, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Mr. Zhihao PEI Department of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, China “Nanostructured electrocatalysts for energy conversion and environmental applications” Abstract
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	16. June 2020 Public PhD defence at EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 17:00 – 18:00, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM CONGRATULATIONS! Dr. Kun ZHAO EPFL/SB/ISIC/LMER “Mechanisms of the Heterogeneously Catalyzed Reaction of CO₂ Hydrogenation on Transition Metal Surfaces” Abstract
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	16. June 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:00 – 10:40, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Dr. Sai SMRUTI SAMANTARAI Alternative Energy and Nanotechnology Laboratory Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai-600090, India “Catalytically and chemically modified reduced graphene oxide composites for room temperature hydrogen storage”
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	15. June 2020 Energie Apéro Luzern 04/2020 17:30 – 19:00, Webinars (Zoom) im virtuellen Raum Erneuerbare Brenn- und Treibstoffe Stand der Entwicklung im Bereich der synthetischen Brenn- und Treibstoffe Prof. Dr. Andreas Züttel, Direktor EPFL SB ISIC LMER, Sion Gasversorgung der Zukunft Dr. Sabine Perch-Nielsen, EBP Schweiz AG, Zürich
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	3. June 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:00 – 10:40, EPFL Valais/Wallis, ZOOM Ms. Xiaohan SUN Faculty of Applied and Engineering Physics, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Straße 1, 85748 Garching bei München “Assessment of the ORR Activity and Stability of Nanostructured Platinum Based Electrocatalysts Synthesized by a Novel Top-Down Approach”
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	1. Mai, 2020 Ms. Thi Ha My PHAM, PhD candidate WELCOME! PhD work “Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction”
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	19. March, 2020 SERVUS TV PM Wissen Wasserstoff SERVUS TV: Schwerpunktthema: Wasserstoff der Brennstoff der Zukunft „P.M. Wissen“ Moderator Gernot Grömer unternimmt eine Reise im Wasserstoff-Auto durch Österreich und Deutschland und sucht nach Antworten. Die Reise endet im Zillertal – dort soll die weltweit erste wasserstoffbetriebene Schmalspurbahn entstehen.”
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Experts Apéro	13. March, 2020 Ms. Kun ZHAO CONGRATULATIONS! PhD defence exam “Mechanisms of the Heterogeneously Catalyzed Reaction of CO₂ Hydrogenation on Transition Metal Surfaces” In short, we established equipments for an operando study of CO₂ hydrogenation on catalyst surfaces, unraveled the surface reaction mechanisms and the active sites, developed a highly active catalyst, as well as initiated an efficient data analysis program.
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	28. February 2020 Univerity of Helsinki Prof. Timo REPO and group CATALYSIS AND GREEN CHEMISTRY Seminar and collaboration planning
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	17. February 2020 Mr. Cedric TERRIER Master Semester project: “Synthesis of supported metallic catalysts” The activity of a heterogeneous catalyst is determined by the number of active sites on the surface of the solid nanoparticle in contact with the gas phase. The goal of the semester project is to elaborate a wet chemical synthesis methode for catalytic nanoparticles, e.g. Ni, supported on Al₂O₃. The nucleation density and the morphology, size and chemical state are investigated by TEM, XRD, and XPS, respectively.
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	17. February 2020 Seminar EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion 10:30 – 11:30, EPFL Valais/Wallis, 4th floor, Zeuzier Room Prof. Akichika KUMATANI WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai, Japan “Spatially Resolved Electrochemical Microscopy: Scanning Electrochemical Cell Microscopy on Energy Functional Materials”
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	5. – 10. January, 2020 1st INT’L SYMPOSIUM Hydrogenomics combined with 14th INT’L SYMPOSIUM HYDROGEN & ENERGY Chair: Shin-Ichi ORIMO Hotel Monterey Edelhof Sapporo Sapporo, JAPAN
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	15. December 2019 Pamela CANJURA PhD candidate “High pressure hydrides”
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	5. November 2019 8th Symposium of the SCCER H&E Storage Akademie, Empa Dübendorf, Switzerland
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	4. November 2019 Informationsabends an die Eigentümer von Ölheizungen des Oberwallis Chair: Martin Stucky, AVENERGY Talk Andreas Züttel “In Zukunft mit erneuerbarem Öl” Kultur-& Kongresszentrum La Poste Visp, Wallis, Schweiz
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	14. October 2019 Medienanlass Wasserstoff – Treibstoff der Zukunft ohne Infrastrukturprobleme Datum/Zeit: Montag, 14. Oktober 2019, 10.30 Uhr  Ort: Hotel Schweizerhof, Bahnhofplatz 7, 8001 Zürich (Boardroom 10) Publications
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	8. – 9. October, 2019 6. Energie-Symposium Chairs: Johannes SCHMIDT, Gabriele SEITZ Graz, Austria
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	1. October 2019 Imen BOUSRIH External PhD student from the Université de Tunis el Manar Internship 1. 10. – 31. 12. 2019
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	27. September 2019 Seminar Heng-Yu CHI “Synthesis of MOF membranes via facile deposition in aqueous medium for different applications” 10:30 – 11:30, ENERGYPOLIS Sion, I17 4 F2, Tseuzier room
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	12. September 2019, 9:30 – 10:30 Seminar talk Hannes Jonsson EPFL Valais/Wallis Sion, 4th floor, Zeuzier Room “Calculations of the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 and the Competing Hydrogen Evolution Reaction” Prof. Dr. Hannes JÓNSSON Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland, Hjardarhagi 2, Reykjavík, Iceland
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	6. September 2019 PhD defence Robin MUTSCHLER “Investigation of the heterogeneously catalysed gas phase CO₂ hydrogenation reaction: Development of analysis methods and reaction analysis on basic catalysts”
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	6. September 2019 TEDx Martigny Talk Andreas Züttel “La future sans carburant fossil”
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	6. September 2019 Seminar Burak BAL “Hydrogen Embrittlement in a Fe-Mn-C Based Austenitic Steels” 10:30 – 11:30, ENERGYPOLIS Sion, I17 4 F2, Tseuzier room
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	15. August 2019 Xin ZONG external PhD student from the research group of Prof. Yueping Xiong, HIT, Department of Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China, 150006 Internship 15. 8. – 14. 10. 2019, Study on CO2 electroreduction, electrocatalysis
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	15. July 2019 Sanaz SOODI Internship 15. July 2019 – 15. March 2020 on “Photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to oxygenated fuels” PhD student of the Basic Sciences Institute of the University of Zanjan, IRAN
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	9. July 2019 Master Thesis defence Alexandre BORSAY “Stability of size-selected Cu-based model catalysts for CO₂ hydrogenation” Congratulation!
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	1. July 2019 Gunel AGHABAYLI Internship 1. July – 15. August 2019 on catalytic CO₂ reduction to methane Chemistry & Chemical Engineering graduate with over a year’s industrial experience, who is currently doing her PhD on “Dynamic simulation of CO2 utilization at variable flow rates using Low Carbon Energy” at University of Edinburgh.
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	27. June 2019, from 10:30 to 12:00 Inauguration of the near ambient pressure photoelectron spectrometer (NAP-XPS) Hosts: Andreas ZÜTTEL, Wen LUO The first lab based near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (NAP-XPS) in Switzerland is installed at EPFL Valais/Wallis in Sion. The instruments allows to investigate the surface chemistry of materials on an atomic level. The surface is the interface between the solid and the gas phase (atmosphere) it is where the interaction of molecules in the gas phase with the solid takes place i.e. where heterogeneous catalysis occurs. We acknowledge the financial support that allowed us to purchase the instruments from Swiss National Science Foundation, EPFL, Start-up budget of the Laboratory of Materials for Renewable Energy (LMER) and Empa Material Science and Technology.
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	15. June 2019 Youngdon KO PhD candidate (Hydrides), supervisor: Dr. Heena YANG
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	June 30 – July 5, 2019 SCCER Summer School HELIX, CANCELED at Dorint · Blüemlisalp · Beatenberg/Interlaken, Switzerland Hubel 114 · 3803 Beatenberg · Schweiz Chair: Thomas Schmidt, Jörg Roth, PSI 3. July 2019 Day program: Hydrogen Production, Storage & Applications 1. Hydrogen Production 1.1. Elektrolysis & Photoelectrolysis: Kevin Sivula, confirmed 1.2. Battolyzer: Fokko Mulder, confirmed 1.3. High Temperature Electrolysis: Ligang Wang (Jan Van Herle), confirmed 2. Hydrogen Storage 2.1. Fundamentals of Hydrogen Storage: Andreas Züttel, confirmed 2.2. Metal Hydrides & Complex Hydrides: Andreas Züttel, confirmed 2.3. Organic liquid hydrides: Peter Wasserscheid, Erlangen, confirmed 3. Applications 3.1. Fuel cells: Felix Büchi, confirmed 3.2. Mobility: Christian Bach, confirmed 3.3. Demonstrators & GRZ: Noris Gallandat, GRZ, confirmed Workshop Design a system that covers the energy demand of a one family house.
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	June 30 – July 5, 2019 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Hydrogen-Metal Systems Chairs: Ned Stetson and Michael Hirscher Rey Don Jaime Grand Hotel Castelldefels, Spain Applications for this meeting must be submitted by June 2, 2019 June 29-30, 2019 Gordon Research Seminar chaired by Hope Sartain and Giovanni Capurso
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	May 5 – 10, 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Chair Marco Mazzotti, Vice Chair Roger Aines Les Diablerets Conference Center Eurotel Victoria Les Diablerets, CH Applications for this meeting must be submitted by April 7, 2019
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	18. – 19. 5. 2019, 10:00 – 17:00 SCIENTASTIC ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 1^st floor, Lab LMER & SSDSReception: Ivana SUTER, Lena SUTER, Hugo TOMÉ SSDS: Yannick BAEHLER, LMER Lab: CO₂ reduction, methan reactor: Marco CALIZZI, Emanuele MOIOLI, Robin MUTSCHLER, Kun ZHAO, Jie ZHANG, Qin ZHANG LMER Lab: Hydrogen storage, Hydrides: Heena YANG, Loris LOMBARDO, Victoria HE LMER Lab: XPS & Cluster source: Wen LUO, Mo LI, Alexandre BORSAYTalk par Andreas ZÜTTEL: “LA DEUXIEME EVOLUTION ENERGETIQUE EN VALAIS” Talk par Emanuele MOIOLI: “LA PREMIÈRE RÉALISATION D’UN RÉACTEUR DE TAILLE INDUSTRIEL DE L’EPFL EN COLLABORATION AVEC GAZNAT
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	16. 5. 2019, 10:30 – 11:30 ENERGYPOLIS SEMINAR ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 4^th floor, ZEUZIER Seminar room “e-Infrastructure to compile and provide e- Learning Content and Engineering Tools“ Olaf JEDICKE Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) Institut für Kern- und Energietechnik (IKET), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen
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	10. 4. 2019, 10:30 – 11:30 ENERGYPOLIS SEMINAR ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 4^th floor, ZEUZIER Seminar room “CO₂ conversion to oxygenate fuels using nanocomposite photocatalysts” Sanaz SOODI Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731, Iran
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	22. 3. 2019, 14:00 – 18:30 General Assembly of HYDROPOLE The Swiss Hydrogen Association HYDROPOLE (since 2001) General Assembly and site visit at the Power2gas demonstrator of HSR IET in Rapperswil
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	21. 3. 2019, 10:30 – 11:30 ENERGYPOLIS SEMINAR ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 4^th floor, ZEUZIER Seminar room “Al-N-Compounds – Possible Materials for Hydrogen Storage” Michael FELDERHOFF Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
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	7. 3. 2019, 10:30 – 11:30 ENERGYPOLIS SEMINAR ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 4^th floor, ZEUZIER Seminar room “Transformation of waste into new biochemical and biofuels” Jorge Mario MARCHETTIThe Reactor Engineering and Catalysis Group, located in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
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	1. 3. 2019 Victoria HE (Master student, TU Munich & EPFL)
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	15. 2. 2019 Qin ZHANG (Master student, ISIC, EPFL) Master semester work “CO2 reduction to ethanol”
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	15. 2. 2019 Alexandre BORSAY (Master student, ISIC, EPFL) Master work “Metal Clusters investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy”
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	Jan. 20 – 25, 2019 13th INT. SYMPOSIUM HYDROGEN & ENERGY GYEONG WON JAE AMBASSADOR Incheon, South KOREA
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	11. 2. 2019, 10:30 – 11:30 ENERGYPOLIS SEMINAR ENERGYPOLIS Sion, 4^th floor, ZEUZIER Seminar room “Hydrogen storage systems for mobile and stationary applications: an overview“ Prof. Dr. Sabrina SATORI Department of Technology Systems, University of Oslo, Norway
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	7. 1. 2019 David AUBERT (Civil service)
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	1. 1. 2019 Ivana SUTER Administrative assistant, Secretary LMER Administration and Finances
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