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Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering

Catalysis Research Group

The Catalysis group, lead by Prof. Puurunen, develops new types of solid heterogeneous catalysts and evaluates their performance, aiming for fundamental understanding and structure-activity relationships.
Catalysis Group picture

Focus areas:

  1. Sustainable catalytic processes from renewable resources
  2. Preparation of solid heterogeneous catalysts e.g. by atomic layer deposition
  3. Characterization of solid heterogeneous catalysts

Catalysts are at the core of chemical industry and are expected to enable a sustainable biobased economy of the future. Catalysts are made self by conventional methods such as impregnation and also by advanced methods such as atomic layer deposition (ALD). Catalysts are characterized for example by adsorption methods (chemisorption, physisorption, temperature-programmed methods), in situ spectroscopy with probe molecules (IR) and activity measurements, also in high-pressure reactors.

The Catalysis group, lead by Prof. Puurunen and founded in 2017, develops new types of solid heterogeneous catalysts and evaluates their performance, aiming for fundamental understanding and structure-activity relationships.

As of October 2020, the group’s project base is formed by the HDN cat project (Neste) for catalytic hydrodenitrogenation, the COOLCAT project for carbon dioxide activation to valuable chemicals (Academy of Finland, introduction in ) and the ALDI project related to atomic layer deposition development (Academy of Finland).

Catalysis group, lab work

Notes on our research group:

The CHEM-E1130 Catalysis course is among our core teaching responsibilities.

The group aims for a healthy, constructively critical research environment that supports the personal development & well-being of all members. The group strives towards more openness in science and teaching.

To learn more of the activities of the group and life at Aalto University, please have a look at our Twitter and Instagram accounts, the recent publications, and the group leader’s blog Evolving group presentation can be found in . 

For questions, please contact Riikka Puurunen (firstname.lastname@aalto.fi).

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Latest publications:

Eero Haimi, Anish Philip, Jorge A. Velasco, Feng Gao, Maarit Karppinen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2026 Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A

Gizem Ersavas Isitman, Daulet Izbassarov, Parsa Tamadonfar, Riikka L. Puurunen, Ville Vuorinen 2026 Chemical Engineering Science

Joakim Kattelus, Emma Verkama, Jorge A. Velasco, Reetta Karinen, Kari Laasonen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2026 Journal of Catalysis

Peter M. Piechulla, Mingliang Chen, Aristeidis Goulas, Riikka L. Puurunen, J. Ruud van Ommen 2026 Chemistry of Materials

Aitor Arandia, Jorge A. Velasco, Ahmed Sajid, Jihong Yim, Hammad Shamshad, Hua Jiang, Ashish Chahal, Abhinash Kumar Singh, Christine Gonsalves, Reetta Karinen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2025 Catalysis Today

Jennifer Emara, Alireza M. Kia, Sascha Bönhardt, Clemens Mart, Kati Kühnel, Nora Haufe, Riikka L. Puurunen, Mikko Utriainen, Wenke Weinreich 2025 Applied Surface Science

Ellen Järvinen, Jorge A. Velasco, Reetta Karinen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2025 Topics in Catalysis

Joakim Kattelus, Jorge A. Velasco, Paavo Auvinen, Aitor Arandia, Emma Verkama, Kristoffer Meinander, Hua Jiang, Reetta Karinen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2025 Topics in Catalysis

Minttu M. Kauppinen, Ewa N. Słapa, José Luis González Escobedo, Riikka L. Puurunen, Karoliina Honkala 2025 Surface Science

Leoni-Franziska Klingelhöfer, Joakim Kattelus, Emma Verkama, Jorge A. Velasco, Leonhard Iser, Marcus Rose, Reetta Karinen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2025 Catalysis Science and Technology
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.
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