Catalysis and Energy Materials
Dr. Harun Tüysüz received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Germany in 2008 and completed his post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2012, he established the Heterogeneous Catalysis and Sustainable Energy Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung. He obtained his Habilitation from the Ruhr University Bochum in 2016. He was awarded a competitive ATRAE grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities in 2023, listed as the top candidate, and joined IMDEA Materials as a distinguished researcher in September 2024. He has co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed articles in high-ranking journals with about 9000 citations. He co-edited the book titled “Solar Energy for Fuels”. He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the journals Angewandte Chemie and ChemSusChem. His research achievements have been recognized with several awards, including the Jochen-Block-Prize in 2016, the DECHEMA Prize in 2019, and the Forcheurs Jean-Marie Lehn Prize in 2020.
Research Interests
Dr. Tüysüz’s research focuses on designing and developing functional halide perovskite structures for solar energy conversion, as well as tailoring nanoscale materials for catalytic transformations such as water electrolysis for green hydrogen generation, thermocatalytic CO2 conversion, and catalytic plastic recycling.
The motivation behind the research line is to advance understanding of the structure-activity relationships in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and materials science. One of our main strategies involves developing sustainable synthetic and catalytic processes by precisely controlling the key physicochemical properties of advanced energy materials at the atomic and nanoscale, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Academic and Professional Career
- 2024 – Present: Head of Catalysis and Energy Materials Group, IMDEA Materials Institute, Spain
- 2020 – 2024: Max Planck Research Group Leader, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohenforschung, Germany
- 2016: Habilitation at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
- 2012 – 2019: Group Leader, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany
- 2009 – 2011: Post-Doc Fellow, University of California Berkeley (Prof. Peidong Yang)
- 2005 – 2008: Ph.D. Study, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (Prof. Ferdi Schüth)
Honours and Awards
- 2023: ATRAE award from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
- 2020: Forcheurs Jean-Marie Lehn Prize 2020
- 2020: DECHEMA Prize 2019
- 2019: Volkswagen Foundation Award for Funding Initiative “Life? – A Fresh Scientific Approach to the Basic Principles of Life”
- 2016: Jochen-Block-Prize of the German Catalysis Society e.V. (GeCatS)
- 2010: DFG Research Fellowship
Featured Publications
- Acc. Chem. Res. 2024, 57, 558, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.3c00709
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202404496, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202404496
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202316110, https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202316110
- Nature Commun. 2023, 14, 570, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36088-w
- J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 19768, https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c05412
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 135, e202218189, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202218189
- J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 21232, https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c08845
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202211543, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202211543
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 16544, https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202003801
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 5788, https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201915034
