Anna Kroner

Anna Kroner is a Senior Industrial Liaison Scientist at Diamond specialising in spectroscopy. Anna jointed Diamond in January 2009 after completing her PhD at the University of Southampton and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), where she undertook research into the characterisation of heterogeneous catalysts by the multi-technique set up of X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry (XAS/DRIFTS/MS) in time-resolved, in situ conditions.

Her role at Diamond is to establish collaboration with industrial users by providing support to existing industrial users in the field of spectroscopy and promoting the capabilities of the facility to potential customers. Her main research area covers a wide range of industrial applications utilized in the chemical, catalysis and nuclear fields.
  

I am currently involved in two collaborative research projects between university and industry partners based at the Catalysis Hub at the Research Complex.

• The collaboration with UCL-Research Complex, Johnson Matthey and Belfast University is the one of three JM PhD case studentship projects funded by Johnson Matthey. The main goal of this collaborative work is focused on the development of in situ sample environments for synchrotron based methods, specifically a novel design of a combined in situ XAS/DRIFTS reaction cell. The JM PhD projects awarded by Johnson Matthey have the key objective to cross link projects by applying zeolites synthesis, characterisation and theoretical calculations for furthering understanding of selected catalytic processes.
   
• The collaborative work with UCL-Research Complex and Johnson Matthey is focused on the development of new catalytic materials using Mo and Fe-based zeolites that can be efficiently applied in the process of methane dehydroaromatisation (MDA). The project is led by Miren Agote Aran, PhD student, applying multiple characterisation techniques of XAS, XES, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and quasi-elastic neutron scattering to understand the structure and the functionally of these catalytic materials under operando conditions.

In addition to these two projects, I have an ongoing collaboration with Sasol scientists based at the University of St Andrews where we are studying Fischer-Tropsch catalysis under operando conditions. In situ Co K-edge XAS experiments performed on B18 revealed very interesting results about the catalyst’s structure, however some structural changes of the catalyst could not be observed when working at a higher energy range. Therefore, we have shifted our focus towards soft X-rays studies to perform e.g. Co L₃-edge and O K-edge XAS under in situ conditions. We obtained approval for PDRA funding from the Catalysis Hub to develop a suitable sample environment, operational at low X-ray energy ranges, to investigate a range of the Fischer-Tropsch catalysts on the VERSOX beamline at Diamond.

With newly operational spectroscopy beamlines in the soft X-ray region (I08, I09) and the soon to be operational VERSOX beamline, we have received increased interest from our industrial partners in applying soft X-ray spectroscopy techniques to their research. As a result of this increased interest, we have developed soft X-ray support within the industrial team at Diamond and are delighted to welcome PDRA, Sin Yuen-Chang to the team. We also have plans to develop soft X-ray core level spectroscopies for applied research.

L.H. Al-Madhagi, S-Y. Chang, M. Balasubramanian, A.B. Kroner, E.J. Shotton, E.A. Willneff, B. Mishra, S.L.M. Schroeder, X-ray Raman Scattering: A New in situ Probe of Molecular Structure During Nucleation and Crystallization from Liquid Solutions, Cryst Eng Comm (2018) DOI: 10.1039/c8ce009292e 

Xiangling Deng, Lihua Zhu , Huan Zhang , Anna Kroner, Jinbao Zheng, Nuowei Zhang, Jun He , Bing Hui Chen, Ruthenium stabilized on transition metal-on-transition metal oxide nanoparticles for naphthalene hydrogenation, International Journal Of Hydrogen Energy (2018), DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.05.170

Ian P. Silverwood, Miren Agote Arán, Ines Lezcano González, Anna Kroner, Andrew M. Beale, QENS study of methane diffusion in Mo/H-ZSM-5 used for the methane dehydroaromatisation reaction, Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Quasielastic Neutron Scattering and the Workshop on Inelastic Neutron Spectrometers QENS/WINS 2016 (2018), DOI: 10.1063/1.5039294

Ellie K. Dann, Emma K. Gibson, Richard A. Catlow, Paul Collier, Tugce Eralp Erden, Diego Gianolio, Christopher Hardacre, Anna Kroner, Agnes Raj, Alexandre Goguet, Peter P. Wells, Combined in situ XAFS/DRIFTS Studies of the Evolution of Nanoparticle Structures from Molecular Precursors, Chemistry Of Materials (2017) DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02552

L. Zhu, S. Shan, V. Petkov, W. Hu, A. Kroner, J. Zheng, C. Yu, N. Zhang, Y. Li, R. Luque, C-J. Zhong, H. Ye, Z. Yang, B.H. Chen, Ruthenium-Nickel-Nickel Hydroxide Nanoparticles for Room Temperature Catalytic Hydrogenation, J. Mater. Chem. A (2017) 5, 7869-7875, DOI: 10.1039/C7TA01437F

F. Liao, X-P. Wu, J. Zheng, M.M-J. Li, A. Kroner, Z. Zeng, X. Hong, Y. Yuan, X-Q. Gong, S.C.E. Tsang, A Promising Low Pressure Methanol Synthesis Route from CO₂ Hydrogenation over Pd@Zn Core-Shell Catalysts, Green Chem. (2017) 19, 270-280, DOI: 10.1039/C6GC02366E

F. Liao, X-P. Wu, J. Zheng, M.M-J. Li, Z. Zeng, X. Hong, A. Kroner, Y. Yuan, X-Q. Gong, S.C.E. Tsang, Pd@Zn Core-Shell Nanoparticles of Controllable Shell Thickness for Catalytic Methanol Production, Catal. Sci. Technol. (2016) 6, 7698-7702, DOI: 10.1039/C6CY01832G

A.B. Kroner, K.M.H. Mohammed, M. Gilbert, G. Duller, L. Cahill, P. Leicester, R. Woolliscroft, E.J. Shotton, A Flexible Gas Flow Reaction Cell for in situ X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy Studies,  AIP Conference Proceedings (2016) 1741, 030014 DOI: 10.1063/1.4952837

Molly Meng-Jung Li, Linmin Ye, Jianwei Zheng, Huihuang Fang, Anna Kroner, Youzhu Yuan and Shik Chi Edman Tsang. Surfactant-Free Nickel–Silver Core@Shell Nanoparticles in Mesoporous SBA-15 for Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate. Chem. Commun. (2016) 52, 2569-2572, DOI:10.1039/C5CC09827K  

F. Liao, T.W.B. Lo, J. Qu, A. Kroner, A. Dent and S.C. E. Tsang, Tunability of Catalytic Properties of Pd-based Catalysts by Rational Control of Strong Metal and Support Interaction (SMSI) for Selective Hydrogenolytic C-C and C-O Bond Cleavage of Ethylene Glycol Units in Biomass Molecules, Catal. Sci. Technol. (2015) DOI:10.1039/C5CY00572H

E.K. Gibson, A.M. Beale, C.R.A. Catlow, A. Chutia, D. Gianolio, A. Gould, A. Kroner, K.M.H. Mohammed, M. Perdjon, S.M. Rogers, P.P. Wells, Restructuring of AuPd Nanoparticles Studied by a Combined XAFS/DRIFTS Approach, Chem. Mater. (2015) DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b00866

A.B. Kroner, M.A. Newton, M. Tromp, O.M. Roscioni, A.E. Russell, A.J. Dent, C. Prestipino, J. Evans, Time-Resolved, In Situ DRIFTS/EDE/MS Studies on Alumina-Supported Rhodium Catalysts: Effects of Ceriation and Zirconiation on Rhodium-CO Interactions, ChemPhysChem (2014) 15, 3049-3059, DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201402122

E.J. Shotton, L.D. Connor, A.Dias, A.B. Kroner, C. Pizzey, T. Richter, J. Waterman, Industrial Applications at Diamond, Synchrotron Radiation News (2014) 27(3), 7-10, DOI: 10.1080/08940886.2014.908698

A.B. Kroner, M.A. Newton, M. Tromp, A.E. Russell, A.J. Dent, J. Evans, Structural Characterization of Alumina-Supported Rh Catalysts: Effects of Ceriation and Zirconiation by using Metal-Organic Precursors, ChemPhysChem. (2013) 14, 3606-3617

C.-T. Wu, K.M.K. Yu, F. Liao, N. Young, P. Nellist, A. Dent, A. Kroner, S.C.E. Tsang, A Non-Syn-Gas Catalytic Route to Methanol Production, Nature Commun. (2012) 3, 1050

E. Shotton, A. Dias, A. Kroner, C. Pizzey, J. Waterman, Diamond: Open for Business, Synchrotron Radiation News (2011) 24, 30-33

F. Chen, K. George, A. Hector, M. Jura, A. Kroner, W. Levason, J. Nesbitt, G. Reid, D.C. Smith, J. W. Wilson, Chemical Vapor Deposition of GaP and GaAs Thin Films From [ⁿBu₂Ga(μ-E^tBu₂)₂GaⁿBu₂] (E = P or As) and Ga(P^tBu₂)₃, Chem. Mater. (2011) 23, 5217-5222