Hydrogen | Production

1. TERRA | Biomass and Green Technologies

* Study of hydrogen production from renewable resources (plant materials, organic wastes, industrial by-products, and end-of-life plastics) by thermochemical approaches (at high temperature)

* Several small capacity reactors available for hydrogen production from renewable resources and for the design of new fuels

* Acquisition of a large capacity reactor (platform) with online monitoring system within the framework of the Recovery Plan (acquisition in progress)

* Coordination of an Energy Transition Fund project (ADV_BIO project) on the production of new fuels integrating hydrogen

The laboratory Biomass and Green Technologies is active in the chemistry of renewable resources for the production of energy, energy carriers, transport fuels, and/or new materials. The laboratory works on laboratory and pilot scale facilities, combining experimental and artificial intelligence approaches.

Contact : Aurore Richel

Academic publications over the last 2 years :

1. Martinez-Villarreal, S., Breitenstein, A., Nimmegeers, P., Perez Saura, P., Hai, B., Asomaning, J., Eslami, A.A., Billen, P., Van Passel, S., Bressler, D.C., Debecker, D.P., Remacle, C., Richel, A.
   Drop-in biofuels production from microalgae to hydrocarbons: Microalgal cultivation and harvesting, conversion pathways, economics and prospects for aviation
   (2022) Biomass and Bioenergy, 165, art. no. 106555, .
2. Berger, M., Radu, D., Detienne, G., Deschuyteneer, T., Richel, A., Ernst, D.
   Remote Renewable Hubs for Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuel Production
   (2021) Frontiers in Energy Research, 9, art. no. 671279, .
3. Lepage, T., Kammoun, M., Schmetz, Q., Richel, A.
   Biomass-to-hydrogen: A review of main routes production, processes evaluation and techno-economical assessment
   (2021) Biomass and Bioenergy, 144, art. no. 105920, .
4. Diverse publications at www.chem4us.be

2. GREEnMat

GREEnMat is positioned as a player in the implementation of innovative materials (ceramics and/or metals), particularly for the production of (green) hydrogen.

In particular, the laboratory has worked on

• the development of mesoporous hematite films used as photoanodes in the photoelectrolysis of water;
• the development of heterostructured materials of immobilized metal oxides with controlled architecture to enhance photocatalytic properties - including the production of green hydrogen;
• development of solid electrodes (based on nanostructured metals) and electrolyte materials for water (photo)electrolysis and hydrogen production;
• (micro)structural, rheological, mechanical and/or (photo)electrochemical characterization of materials used for hydrogen production (but also separation and storage).

Academic publications :

1. Metal oxide heterostructured films with controlled architecture for enhanced photocatalytic properties, S. Periyannan, PhD thesis manuscript (2019)
2. Influence of ZnO Surface Modification on the Photocatalytic Performance of ZnO/NiO Thin Films, S. Periyannan, L. Manceriu, N.D. Nguyen, A. Klein, W. Jaegermann, P. Colson, C. Henrist, R. Cloots, Catalysis Letters 149 (2019) 1813.
3. Influence of mesoporosity and Ti-doping in hematite photoelectrodes for water splitting, C. Toussaint, PhD thesis manuscript (2017).
4. Surfactant-assisted ultrasonic spray pyrolysis of hematite mesoporous thin films, C. Henrist, C. Toussaint, J. de Vroede, D. Chatzikyriakou, J. Dewalque, P. Colson, A. Maho, R. Cloots, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 221 (2016) 182.
5. Combining Mesoporosity and Ti-doping in Hematite Films for Water Splitting, C. Toussaint, H. Le Tran, P. Colson, J. Dewalque, B. Vertruyen, B. Gilbert, N.D. Nguyen, R. Cloots, C. Henrist, J.Phys. Chem. C 119 (2015) 1642.

Contact: GREEnMat ; Rudi Cloots