The "Solid Chemistry and Catalysis" group develops its scientific activity for more than thirty years having as main centre of interest the study of materials based on lanthanide oxides, including the preparation of these materials and the in-depth characterization of their chemical, textural and structural properties, as well as their application in heterogeneous catalysis.
Regarding the type of materials, pure oxides, CeMO2-x mixed oxides (M=Y, Zr, Tb, Pr), Metal systems (Rh, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ni, Co, Cu, Au)/Lanthanide oxide (CeO2, CeMO2-x) and more complex multi-component Metal/Lanthanide oxide/Support have been studied. They have been used both as powders or structured in the form of ceramic-based monoliths (ceramic or metallic).
With regard to the fields of application, in last years the group has focused on processes related to environmental protection, aimed fundamentally at the purification of contaminants, both in the gas and liquid phases, and the production of clean energy. Among the former, we would highlight the purification of exhaust gases emitted by vehicles (TWC-Three Way Catalysts), as well as the elimination of organic contaminants present in industrial wastewater by means of catalytic wet oxidation (CWAO-Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation). Regarding the processes related to energy production, efficient systems have been developed for the production of hydrogen (WGS-Water Gas Shift; PROX, Preferential Oxidation of CO in the presence of H2; CO Oxidation; APR, Aqueous Reforming of Methanol) or the valorisation of CO2 (DRM, Dry Reforming of CH4 with CO2).
CATALYSTS FOR THE PURIFICATION OF POLLUTING EMISSIONS INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND LIQUID EFFLUENTS.
CATALYTIC PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN FOR USE AS FUEL IN ENERGY GENERATORS WITH LOW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ("FUEL CELLS").
PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND TESTING AS CATALYSTS AND SENSORS OF NEW CERIUM DIOXIDE BASED MATERIALS.
Design of efficient heterogeneous catalysts with low content of lanthanide and noble metals.
Catalytic processes for CO2 valorisation.
• Preparation of oxides and metal/oxides type catalysts by different techniques: conventional (co)precipitation, hydrothermal synthesis, microwave-assisted methods, deposition-precipitation, incipient wet impregnation, colloidal preparations, core-shell structures, structured systems in ceramic and metal monoliths made by 3-D printing.
• Chemical, textural and structural characterisation of materials using a wide variety of techniques such as: ICP, XRF, XRD, Volumetric adsorption of probe molecules (O2, H2, CO, N2, CO2, etc.), Programmed Thermal Reduction/Oxidation/Desorption, Thermogravimetric Analysis, FTIR, XPS and Raman Spectroscopies, Electronic Microscopy, etc.
• Evaluation of the catalytic behaviour of solids in different reactions in both gas and liquid phases (WGS, PROX, CO Oxidation, Methanization, Dry Reforming, Soot Combustion, DeNOx processes, etc.)