A recent opinion paper titled by “Plasma catalysis: what is needed to create synergy?” Van Turnhout et al[1]. offers a timely and insightful overview of the key challenges and opportunities in plasma catalysis, an area of growing interest for sustainable chemical production and energy integration.
Plasma catalysis is increasingly being explored as a route to produce fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity. Its ability to operate under mild conditions and to couple efficiently with intermittent energy sources makes it a promising complement to conventional thermocatalytic systems. However, despite significant advances, the field remains constrained by fundamental and practical limitations.
The paper highlights several critical issues that continue to hinder progress: insufficient understanding of how to tailor catalyst materials for plasma environments (and vice versa), poor energy efficiencies due to reverse reactions, and suboptimal reactor designs that limit the interaction between plasma and catalyst. It also calls for more rigorous measurement protocols and reporting standards, while encouraging exploration of plasma–material systems beyond conventional catalysts.
This publication is relevant to the goals of the ALCHEMHY project, which is advancing low-carbon pathways for the production of hydrogen carriers such as ammonia and methanol. Plasma-assisted technologies are among the innovative approaches being explored within the project, and a deeper understanding of plasma–catalyst interactions is essential to achieving higher process efficiencies and scalability.
The research was supported in part by the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action project ALCHEMHY (grant agreement no. 101177996), alongside the ERC Synergy project SCOPE. This joint support reflects the growing recognition of plasma catalysis as a key technology in the transition to climate-neutral chemical production.
The full article can be accessed here.
[1] Van Turnhout, J., Rouwenhorst, K., Lefferts, L., & Bogaerts, A. (2025). Plasma catalysis: What is needed to create synergy? EES Catalysis. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ey00027k