1. Catalysis in Zeolites and Nanostructured Materials & Systems
Aluminosilicates (zeolites) and metallosilicate catalysts are very important for the chemical industry in the whole world, for example for the production of fine chemicals and in petrochemistry (about 80% of the produced gasoline has been in contact with zeolites). In Thailand, I have studied the interactions of water molecules with Faujasite zeolite, methanol adsorption in zeolite and co-adsorption between methanol-ammonia in zeolite by electronic structure calculations for embedded clusters involving the zeolite surface and the adsorbed molecule. Here I have also evaluated how well different embedding schemes manage to treat the long-range ionic field.

2. Catalysis on metal/metal oxide interfaces
Interfaces between metal oxides and metals are important in technology. Heterogeneous catalysis and sensors are two examples. So far I have been using periodic DFT calculations to study the interaction between noble metal atoms and simple metal oxide surfaces. Moreover, I have also been dealing with the interactions of molecules contact with these interfaces.