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 Youtube) 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 Catalysis Professor’s Open. Evolving group presentation can be found in this link

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

Latest publications:

Sustainable and selective production of aromatics from bio-oil model compounds over Zn/ZSM-5 zeolites

Aitor Arandia, Ida Uotila, Bibesh Gauli, Nicolaas van Strien, Francesco Sandri, Ellen Järvinen, Xinwei Ye, Bert M. Weckhuysen, Johanna Kihlman, Juha Lehtonen 2026 Fuel Processing Technology

Publishing FAIR and machine-actionable reviews in materials science: The case for symbolic knowledge in neuro-symbolic artificial intelligence

Jennifer D’Souza, Sören Auer, Eleni Poupaki, Alex Watkins, Anjana Devi, Riikka L. Puurunen, Bora Karasulu, Adriaan Mackus, Erwin Kessels 2026 Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

From egg-shell to uniform distribution of platinum by atomic layer deposition on mesoporous alumina spheres: experiments and modeling

Christine Gonsalves, Jänis Järvilehto, Saeed Saedy, Jorge A. Velasco, Thomas Grehl, Philipp Brüner, Niko Heikkinen, Juha Lehtonen, J. Ruud van Ommen, Riikka L. Puurunen 2026 RSC Applied Interfaces

Atomic layer deposition of zinc oxide films on lateral high-aspect-ratio test structures using diethylzinc and water as precursors

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

Modeling thermal effects in atomic layer deposition for trench-shaped structures

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

On the role of hydrogen-deficient species during alkylamine hydrotreating on platinum catalysts

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

Atomic Layer Deposition on Particulate Materials from 1988 through 2023: A Quantitative Review of Technologies, Materials, and Applications

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

Cobalt-promoted Fe3O4 catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to C2+ hydrocarbons: Effect of pretreatment method and reaction temperature

Agija Stanke, Agris Berzins, Jorge A. Velasco, Kristaps Sarsuns, Riikka L. Puurunen, Kristine Lazdovica 2026 Fuel Processing Technology

Atomic layer deposited zinc promoted copper catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol : Influence of support

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
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.
Research portal
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