In-house analytical equipment

Organic Synthesis - ORSY: Organic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, heterocyclic chemistry and sustainable chemistry for more sustainable reactions/processes

State-of-the-art synthesis lab, analytical and separation equipment as NMR Bruker Avance III , HPLC-MS, GC-MS, automated flash chromatography, automated HPLC and on-line IR.

Laboratory of Adsorption and Catalysis - LADCA: Synthesis, modification, activation and characterisation of (porous) inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic materials for application in catalysis, separation, sorption and others. Synthesis-property-performance correlation.

Equipment for liquid and gas phase synthesis and modification of materials, characterization techniques for solids (TGA-MS, (in-situ), IR with different accessories and Raman, UV-VIS (diffusion reflectance), a variety of static and dynamic sorption techniques compatible with different gases and vapours, catalytic set-ups for heterogeneous thermal catalysis (automotive applications), (photo)catalysis and plasma catalysis with online GC’s and MS as well as equipment for electrical analysis of the plasma properties).

Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine - Antwerp - PLASMANT: Plasma and plasma-surface interactions : computer modelling and experiments, for various applications: CO₂, CH₄ and N₂ conversion into value-added chemicals and fuels, plasma medicine, microelectronics and nanotechnology, analytical chemistry.

Several types of home-built plasma reactors (various designs of gliding arcs, atmospheric pressure glow discharge, packed bed DBDs), gas chromatography equipment and MS, computer cluster, access to the Flemish Supercomputer Cluster, licenses for several computational software packages (e.g., Comsol, Gaussian, VASP, CP2K).

Intelligence in Processes, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents - iPRACS: Innovations in circular and sustainable processes by integrating early stage (ex-ante) sustainability assessment with strategic experimental and in silico research: chemical recycling of plastics & catalysis.

Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis - ELCAT: The core research activities within ELCAT are related to the development of state-of-the-art electrochemical reactors and catalysts, with a view towards large-scale industrial development in the field of industrial electrification, in a green and sustainable way to ultimately replace the traditional chemical processes. The scope there is to improve controllability, flexibility and energy efficiency of the reactions through electrocatalyst development and reactor design. This research can thus be subdivided in three main topics, which are interrelated: (i) electrocatalysis, (ii) electrosynthesis and (iii) electrochemical reactor engineering.

• A wide range of electrosynthesis set-ups going from batch cells to flow-cells in combination with advanced potentiostats, including boosters required for achieving higher currents. Additionally, ELCAT possesses the required equipment (i.e. MP 45, ISEL milling machine) to develop optimized and larger scale electrolyzers.
• Electrocatalyst synthesis equipment for wet chemical and electrodeposited catalyst manufacturing: atmosphere-controlled oven, elevated temperature and cryogenic synthesis cells, spray coating, rotavap, hydrostatic pressure vessels, TGA, etc.
• All analytical equipment, including (in-line) GC, HPLC(-MS), ICP-MS, DEMS, UV-VIS, etc. to determine the reaction performance and product outcome.
• Necessary pumps and sensors (e.g. pressure, flow, pH) to monitor all operating conditions.

The Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology - DuEL: Technologies for solar-to-chemical energy conversion, purification of various side and waste streams, carbon sequestration and nutrient valorisation.

Modeling of the light-matter interaction, profilometry of coated surfaces, UV-VIS or diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (both in solid and liquid phase), Photoluminescence and Fluorescence spectroscopy, viscosity measurements, Surface Photovoltage Spectroscopy, FTIR-ATR and operando FTIR during gas phase (photo)catalysis, fully equipped gas test setup that can accommodate various types of (photo)reactors, various test gases (e.g. ethylene, NOx, methane, ammonia, acetaldehyde, or any low boiling point VOC) can be administered to the gas flow, detection is enabled by in-line real-time FTIR spectroscopy, GC, state-of-the-art Quantum Cascade Laser detection for N-containing compounds (NO, NO₂, N₂O, NH₃, reactor design of both photoreactors and photo-electrochemical cells is also performed in-house. We also perform photocatalytic testing protocols based on the ISO standards for air purification (ISO 22197-1:2019 (NOx) and 22197-2:2019 (acetaldehyde)), self-cleaning surfaces (ISO 27448:2009), water purification (ISO 10678:2010) and antibacterial activity (ISO 27447:2019).

Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development - IMDO/BLUE APP
CO₂ utilization and circular economy, avoiding CO₂ emissions via the electrification of industrial processes, storage and release of H₂. CFD-assisted design of (bio)chemical reactors following process intensification techniques.

Sievert apparatus for hydrogen storage in solids (up to 100 bar, from -50 °C to 200 °C), a 300 mL Parr autoclave reactor, various fluidized beds and swirling fluidized bed reactors, centrifugal reactors for dehydrogenation experiments from Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC), Quadrupole Mass spectrometer, a TCD detector for binary gas mixtures. Electrified reactors: resistively (Joule) and inductively-heated reactors.

Valorisation of renewable residual and by-product streams, giving waste a second life, and making chemical products and processes more sustainable