Students science conference 2025On November 20, 2025, the Student Scientific Conference was held again at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, with six students from our group registering to participate this year. Namely: Nikolas Letzel, Mariia Khover, Jáchym Kučera, Sofiia Zadniprianska, Zhuldyzai Zhazykbayeva, and Ihar Astanin. The most successful was the work of Nikolas Letzel, who won first place in the category Study and Use of Heterogeneous Catalysts with his work "Synthesis of Ge Nanoparticles as Fluorescent Probes for Studying the Availability of Porous Heterogeneous Catalyst Systems." Sofiia Zadniprianska also won third place in the same category with her work: Graphene oxide supported metal nanoparticles for CO2 activation. We congratulate both winners and thank everyone else for participating.
Youth AcademyMartin Vesely gave a lecture at The Youth Academy on the 2nd of December with the title: Heterogeneous catalysts – unconventional approaches to understanding their properties.
Annotation:
How can we find out what is happening on the surface of a material that accelerates a chemical reaction without being consumed itself? In this lecture, we will look into the world of heterogeneous catalysis—a key field in the chemical industry and environmental protection. We will focus on modern methods that allow us to study catalysts at various levels, from the atomic level to the catalytic reactor as a whole.
UCT Catalytic Fall 2025In collaboration with the Department of Sustainable Fuels and Green Chemistry, we are excited to introduce 2nd series of UCT Catalytic Fall 2025. We want to kick out the new academic semester and boost student's motivation by interacting with great speakers. Each year, this seminar will focus on a different topic. This year's theme is:
Characterization of heterogeneous catalysts
We are honoured to host two distinguished speakers:
Valentina Crocellà - Università di Torino
"A multitechnique insight into catalyst surfaces: in situ Infrared spectroscopy and beyond."
Valentina Crocellà is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Turin, specializing in physical chemistry. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials for diverse applications. Notable publications include studies on cooperative adsorption mechanisms in metal-organic frameworks and the development of hybrid silica gel carriers for controlled drug delivery.
Magnus Rønning - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
"How to extract all available information from temperature programmed techniques."
Magnus Rønning is a Professor in Catalysis at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). His research focuses on operando characterization of catalysts using synchrotron-based X-ray techniques, hydrogen production, ammonia decomposition and oxidation, and the development of new catalytic materials to replace critical raw materials.
The seminar will take place at UCT Prague on October 3rd, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, at B2319. We look forward to your participation in what promises to be an insightful and engaging event.
Defense of dissertationWe are delighted to announce that Iryna Danylo has successfully defended her dissertation entitled Correlative Spectromicroscopy for the Nanoscale Characterization of Low-Dimensional Materials and Their Catalytic Applications, which she wrote under the supervision of Martin Veselý, Ph.D.
Congratulations from the whole 2D CAT group.
New PhD group member We are pleased to announce that Michaela Hlinková will be joining the 2DCAT group as a PhD student.
We wish her every success in the years to come.
Announcement of a new MicroDetect grantWe are pleased to announce that Ing. Martin Veselý, Ph.D. has received a grant from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic entitled: MicroDetect - Fast and cost-effective detection of microplastics in drinking water using AI spectro-microscopy. The project will run from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2027.
Project number: FY01010196
Project goals:
The goal of the MicroDetect project is to develop an innovative analytical system for the detection, classification, and quantification of microplastics in various types of water, especially drinking water. Current methods are often time-consuming, insufficiently precise, and difficult to apply to individual microplastic particles, which range in size from 1 μm to 5 mm. Moreover, existing approaches require extensive manual sample preparation and human interpretation of results, limiting their practical use in operational conditions. The MicroDetect project focuses on developing and validating technology that automates the microplastic analysis process and eliminates subjective errors caused by human interpretation. The project will deliver three key outputs: A utility model protecting the developed filtration apparatus – an innovative solution for the efficient separation of microplastics from water samples. A functional prototype of the filtration apparatus – a device enabling optimized microplastic filtration for subsequent analytical detection. A verified technology of the analytical system – software capable of generating automated reports on the quantity, size, and composition of microplastics based on optical analysis. This system has direct commercial potential not only in water quality monitoring and industrial processes but also in research laboratories and environmental management. Thanks to its high precision and speed, MicroDetect enables up to 80% more efficient microplastic detection compared to conventional methods, significantly improving the effectiveness and scalability of this technology in various industrial and environmental applications.
Congratulations
Reference: https://www.bosch-home.com/cz/novinky/filtr-na-mikroplasty (4.1.2026)
Europacat 2025Martin Veselý participated in Europacat 2025, located in Trondheim, Norway, as part of the 16th European Congress on Catalysis (31th August - 5th September). Martin gave a lecture entitled: Optimized Platinum Nanoparticle Dispersion on 2D Supports for Enhanced Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde
Award for best oral presentationIng. Iryna Danylo, Ph.D., received an award for the best oral presentation at the 26th Annual YUCOMAT Conference for her work Correlative Spectromicroscopy of Platinum-Based Catalysts on 2D Materials: from Fabrication to Catalytic Activity.
We warmly congratulate Dr. Danylo.
Internship in labs 2DCATCléa Pagés and Margaux Pichard were part of 2DCAT for two months (May-July) as part of an international internship. Both students came to us for an internship from the French university ESCOM (Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Organique et Minérale). During their internship, they worked under the supervision of Martina Pitínová on the preparation and characterization of rhodium catalysts for hydroformylation.
10th Czech-Italian-Spanish Conference (CIS-10)Martina Pitínová and Ayesha Shafiq participated in the 10th Czech-Italian-Spanish Conference (CIS-10) on Molecular Sieves and Catalysis, held at Liblice Castle on June 9-12, 2025. Martina gave a lecture entitled: STYRENE HYDROFORMYLATION CATALYZED BY RHODIUM SUPPORTED ON 3D AND 2D TRANSITION METAL DICHALCOGENIDES.
Ayesha with her lecture: HYDROGENATION OF CINNAMALDEHYDE BY PLATINUM SUPPORTED ON 2D AND 3D TRANSITION METAL SULFIDES
ICCT 2025The International Conference on Chemical Technology took place in Mikulov from April 14 to 16, 2025. At this conference, Lukáš Koláčný presented his work on the topic: EXPLORING 3D MICROSTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN WORKING PT-CO CATALYSTS OF A
FUEL CELL VIA ELECTRON TOMOGRAPHY,
and Ayesha Shafiq presented on the topic: RHODIUM-CATALYSED HYDROFORMYLATION OF STYRENE USING TRANSITION METAL
DICHALCOGENIDE SUPPORTS,
and Martin Veselý presented his poster entitled: TOPOCHEMICALLY SYNTHESIZED SI AND GE QUANTUM DOTS FOR INVESTIGATING
POROUS NETWORKS IN SOLID CATALYSTS. Martin Veselý was also the chairman of the Applied Catalysis and Organic Technology section.
Vice-President ČSPCHMartin Veselý was elected Vice-President of ČSPCH in February 2025. Congratulations!