Ammoniak, troefkaart voor de energietransitie?

Al tijdens zijn stage als chemische technologie student, bij het Deense bedrijf Haldor Topsøe, ondervond UT-promovendus Kevin Rouwenhorst dat er veel mogelijkheden schuilen in ammoniak. Nu wordt dat vooral gebruikt voor het maken van kunstmest, en heeft daarmee een slechte naam. Maar ammoniak is ook een van de zeven chemicaliën die aan de basis staat van alle chemische producten, en het voedt zo’n 50% van de wereldpopulatie.

Ammonia: a trump card for the energy transition process?

During his internship as a Chemical Technology student at Danish company Haldor Topsøe, UT PhD researcher Kevin Rouwenhorst realised the many opportunities offered by ammonia. At the moment, it is principally used to manufacture artificial fertiliser and therefore has a bad name. But ammonia is also one of seven chemicals that form the basis of all chemical products, and it helps to feed around 50% of the world’s population.

Solar cell that can directly convert light into fuel

University of Twente scientists Annemarie Huijser and Kaijian Zhu are developing a new type of solar panel that converts solar energy directly into renewable fuel. This direct conversion has the potential to become more cost-effective than the combination of a conventional solar cell and an electrolyzer.

Training immune cells to kill tumor cells

In the ongoing fight against cancer, UT Professor Jai Prakash and his team developed a new immunotherapeutic method to treat the disease. Using nanotechnology, he managed to reprogram the immune system to effectively fight breast tumors in mice. The revolutionary method is now ready to be further developed for use in humans, and likely against more types of cancer.

Unraveling Earth’s deep secrets

Geophysicist Juan Carlos Afonso, UT’s Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), developed a revolutionary method capable of unraveling what the Earth’s interior is made of and how hot it is. The technique, based on multiple datasets obtained from the Earth’s surface and from satellites, may result in the location of new critical resources as well as suitable sites to extract geothermal energy.

Women’s Health pillar at the UT

‘To empower women through knowledge and innovation’

Did you know that diseases manifest differently in women than in men, and that female patients are more likely to have a negative reaction to medications? In order to provide adequate care for women, a multidisciplinary group of researchers at the University of Twente has formed a new Women’s Health cluster.

De UT-pijler Women’s Health

‘De positie van vrouwen versterken door kennis en innovatie’

Wist je dat ziekten zich bij vrouwen anders manifesteren dan bij mannen? En dat vrouwelijke patiënten vaker slecht op geneesmiddelen reageren? Een multidisciplinaire groep onderzoekers aan de Universiteit Twente werkt in een nieuw cluster Women’s Health aan verbetering van de zorg aan vrouwen.

New materials to develop energy efficient computers chips

With a new NWO funding of 20 million euros for the coming 10 years, Professor Alexander Brinkman, of the Faculty of Science and Technology, will focus on using new materials to develop energy efficient computer chips. This may open doors to massive energy savings in computing and data management and may boost the development of quantum computers.

Better climate change adaptation in Europe

‘We need a systemic climate change adaptation in Europe. We are already experiencing the results of not having such an integrated approach,’ say UT researchers Gül Özerol and Erwin Nugraha. They both worked on a recently completed European project ‘C5a’, which aims to make Europe more resilient in the face of the changing climate.

Injectable hydrogel that supports the healing of damaged cartilage

New hope for osteoarthritis patients

Marcel Karperien, professor at the department of Developmental Bioengineering, developed an injectable hydrogel to repair damaged cartilage and potentially prevent the onset of osteoarthritis. Together with his colleagues from TechMed Centre, UMC Utrecht and Hy2Care, he optimized the gel to make it suitable for use in humans.

‘Getting the Vidi is about the effort it took to achieve it’

‘Plastic pollution is a tremendous challenge. We are eating and drinking plastics without even realizing it,’ UT scientist Jimmy Faria Albanese explains why his Vidi research revolves around chemical recycling. His goal is to develop new catalytic materials and processes that can ‘upcycle’ plastics into added value chemicals.

Vidi winner Roelof Rietbroek: ‘We can get more done and make larger steps’

‘My Vidi project is related to droughts, an extremely relevant topic - and not just scientifically,’ says Roelof Rietbroek, one of the two UT scientists who were awarded the Vidi grant of 800,000 euros this year. The researcher uses satellite data to investigate water cycle changes.

De fiets onder de loep

Dat hij ook buiten de deur kan werken, is voor Mario Boot een van de belangrijkste redenen om dit promotieonderzoek naar de impact van nieuwe fietstechnologieën te doen. En als zelfverklaard fietsliefhebber wil Boot graag zijn eigen proefpersoon zijn. ‘Fietsen doe je uiteraard buiten en dus gaan wij, als onderzoekers, ook naar buiten om een beter inzicht in de praktijk te krijgen.’

Ride along

Being able to work ‘out of office’ was one of the main reasons why Mario Boot decided to start his PhD research, which focuses on measuring the impact of new bike technologies on user experience. And as a self-proclaimed cycling lover, Boot is more than happy to be his own test subject. ‘My research revolves around bicycles. Cycling naturally happens outside, and so we, researchers, also spend time outside to get a better insight into the real-life environment.’

Balancing energy supply and demand

SlimPark on campus: demo-site for energy transition

By better matching the consumer demand with energy supply from solar and wind, Johann Hurink, Professor of Applied Mathematics, develops smart solutions for an optimal use of these forms of energy. The first demo-site, SlimPark on campus, shows how solar energy can be utilized most efficiently.

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