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In Isaac Asimov’s Fantastic Voyage, a group of leading scientists board a microscopic submarine. They navigate through the veins of a brilliant researcher, gliding past red blood cells, to reach his brain. There, they will remove a life-threatening blood clot by using a laser cannon the size of a pinprick.

When Asimov wrote this in 1965, it was pure science fiction. Today, a world at the nanoscale doesn’t seem so far-fetched. For Krijn de Jong, Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry & Catalysis at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, the book was more than just entertainment, it was an inspiration. “I was always fascinated by Fantastic Voyage. Maybe it influenced me without me realising,” he reflects. “In a way, I’ve actually become a kind of builder at the nanoscale.”

Walking through a nanocity

Anyone who wants to build at the nanoscale must first be able to see on that scale. When De Jong arrived in Utrecht, electron microscopes only produced flat, two-dimensional images. “You could make out shapes, but you couldn’t properly see how the particles were connected. Yet that’s crucial in catalysis, because the position of particles often determines how well a catalyst works.”

A lot has changed since. By illuminating objects from multiple angles and cleverly combining the results, researchers can now study materials in 3D at an incredibly small scale. “Suddenly, it was as if we could stroll through a nanocity,” says De Jong. Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� was a pioneer in this field, and the technique co-developed here in 2000 is now used across the globe.

Platinum at a premium

De Jong has spent decades working on catalysts, substances that speed up or direct chemical reactions. Thanks to nanoscale imaging, catalysts can now be designed with far greater precision. “Imagine you’ve got a plate of steak and spinach. The steak tastes a bit bland. In the past, you’d scatter pepper all over the plate, even on the spinach, where you didn’t want it. But pepper, in our case, platinum, is incredibly expensive. Now, we can sprinkle it on the steak only. That makes the procedure ten times more effective.”

Waste as a resource

De Jong is also exploring the potential of C1 chemistry: creating new products from simple building blocks like carbon and hydrogen. “Our mountains of waste are full of it, from plastics to organic matter. Instead of throwing it away, which releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, we can gasify it into synthesis gas. And from synthesis gas, you can make almost anything: fuels, medicines, plastics. In one stroke, we address two global challenges: dwindling raw materials and growing waste.”

It sounds like science fiction, but it’s edging closer to reality. The stumbling block is implementation. “In Europe, progress is painfully slow. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is pressing ahead at full speed. In twenty years’ time, we might well look back and say: they were right to push through.”

Our waste is full of carbon and hydrogen molecules. Instead of dumping it, which leads to methane emissions, we can turn it into synthesis gas. You can then make almost anything from that: fuel, medicines, plastics.

Big Brother in science

It’s not just technology that has changed—the academic world itself looks very different. “Twenty years ago, professors were trusted on their integrity,” De Jong recalls. “Now, committees decide whether someone is allowed to collaborate with a particular industry or country. I could never have imagined that two decades ago.” He draws a parallel with George Orwell’s 1984. “It worries me: science needs freedom, not rigid black-and-white rules.”

Narnia before bedtime

De Jong observes it in wonder: Utrecht now has an electron microscope capable of imaging individual atoms, and 3D imaging is on the horizon. What sounds like fiction today may soon become everyday reality. And that’s true not only in science. “This morning, I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis to my grandson in New Zealand again. Thanks to technology, we see each other often.”