Sonja holds a MSc in Chemistry from the Technical University of Darmstadt and a Dr rer. nat. with Prof Gerd Buntkowsky, elucidating structure-property relationships in capacitor materials with solid-state NMR-spectroscopy. This was followed by a postdoc at St Andrews with Prof Sharon Ashbrook, exploring the relationships between surface structure and performance in catalysts used in the acrylics industry. Sonja’s recent work involved in-situ NMR studies of cycling degradation in sodium-ion batteries. In 2025, they began their appointment as a Broom-McIntyre Fellow in the School of Chemistry.

Reactions taking place on the surface of catalysts are a backbone of the chemical industry, with an estimated 90% of all products involving at least one catalysed synthesis step. The chemical industry relies on robust heterogeneous catalysts which often consist of dispersed metal atoms deposited on an inorganic oxide support. However, structural understanding of these widely used materials is still lacking, and their development is mostly based on empirical optimisation. By enabling processes with reduced waste, energy consumption, by-products, and air pollution, catalysts play a key role in the responsible use of limited resources. Insights into underlying relationships between structure an function are therefore key not only to improving catalytic efficiency, but also to a more sustainable future.

However, tailored catalyst design is hindered by the complexity of the materials with multiple, structurally distinct regions. My research aims to develop, test, and apply solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic methods that exploit their unique strengths for a region-selective characterisation. Through combining complementary insights from key regions, a comprehensive picture of the structure can be obtained, revealing the inner workings of heterogeneous catalysts.

Heterogeneous catalysis, Disordered inorganic materials, Region-selective solid-state NMR spectroscopy, Carbon capture and utilisation