Projects
Ongoing projects:
Development of a TRL6 CO2 electrolysis testing facility at industrial scale (ELECTRA)
This project aims to establish a TRL6 CO2 electrolysis plant and testing facility, a first of its kind in Flanders, to evaluate electrolyzer technologies under industrially relevant conditions such as flue gas feeds and fluctuating high-power loads. The absence of such infrastructure in the region has limited progress in advancing CO2 electrolysis technology, and this project seeks to address that…
Development of GDE-MEA for CO2-electrolysis with low anolyte contribution (EFFORT)
The EFFORT project seeks to advance the technologies necessary for the widespread adoption of CO2 electrolyzers, with a primary goal of developing high-performance devices capable of operating at 2.5 V and 200 mA cm-2. Central to this effort is the creation of non-fluorinated, highly selective Anion Exchange Membranes (AEMs) tailored to reduce (bi)carbonate crossover. Alongside, innovative gas diffusion electrode (GDE)…
Allylic oxidation of hydrocarbons on anodes (ALOHA)
The ALOHA project aims to develop an electrochemically assisted process for the selective oxidation of olefins, such as propene, at the allylic position to produce unsaturated acids like acrylic acid. This process replaces dissolved redox mediators with anode-incorporated mediators inspired by N-hydroxyphthalimide. Operating under mild conditions (<100 °C, low O2 content), the approach minimizes voltage and energy requirements and will…
Accelerated degradation techniques for improving the performance and durability of flow batteries
Flow batteries are a promising technology for the stationary storage of intermittent renewable energy. Yet their commercial prospects are hindered by the lack of techniques to evaluate the durability of the different battery materials. This research project will enhance the performance and durability of flow batteries (FBs) for energy storage applications through the development of accelerated degradation techniques (ADTs). In…
Enhancing electrolyzer and Zirfon seperators for alkaline electrolysis (ELECZIR)
The project aims at developing innovative continuous flow technologies with as prospective industrial implementation. Flow technology is especially useful for continuous processes and can be implemented at different levels going from efficient and economic screening of process conditions to process intensification. At the moment, the application of flow technology is mainly limited to the most typical and simple chemical reactions…
Optimisation of bubble removal in alkaline water electrolysis at industrial current densities
Hydrogen is considered essential for the transition towards carbon neutrality. Currently, however, most hydrogen is derived from fossil fuels, because this is cheaper than producing hydrogen renewably through electrolysis. This cost gap currently impedes the adoption of renewable hydrogen and significant cost reductions are necessary to make it competitive. Crucially, the cost of cell stack components accounts for about half…
Development of a fast screening, electrochemical tool to map and understand corrosion inhibitors for heat transfer fluids
In a first phase of the project, an electrochemical protocol will be established to evaluate the corrosion behaviour of a couple of metals typically applied in heating/cooling systems (i.e. copper, brass, solder, steel, cast iron and aluminium) in the presence of commercially available and commonly applied heat transfer fluid formulations (i.e. Proviflow N, L and FG). This set of tests…
Redox flow batteries charging tomorrow’s world through the in-depth understanding and enhanced control over battery hydrodynamics (RECHARGE)
Electrochemical energy storage is essential if we wish to increase the usage of intermittent energy sources such as windmills and solar panels. With intermittent energy sources it is crucial that energy can be stored to meet demand when production is too low. When targeting stationary storage with large capacity and long storage times, redox flow batteries stand out. However, in…
In-depth understanding of multiphase mass transfer in CO2 electrolyzers through application of engineered, ordered reactor components (TRANSCEND)
To avoid catastrophic climate change, European countries are bound by the European Climate Law to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to become climate-neutral by 2050. To meet this necessary but steep target, radical progress in the technology for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is needed. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 (eCO2R) is key to aid in the reduction of carbon levels…
Green valorisation of CO2 and Nitrogen compounds for making fertilizers (CONFETI)
CONFETI project proposes the development of a lab-scale validated innovative technology that is able to utilise and electrochemically convert CO2 and N2 directly from air or flue gases without the use of critical raw materials and using renewable energy sources. By the production of urea from N (N2 and/or NO3–) and CO2, the project aims to ensure a circular and…
Past projects:
Upscaling effects on the purity of circular formic acid for ecological descaler production
The awareness of society in terms of sustainability and the fragility of ecosystems and our environment has pushed governments to pass legislation imposing stricter product requirements on industry. Companies are therefore looking for alternative feedstocks with less impact on the environment. This implies that the origin of these feedstocks has to be renewable or they have to be recycled from what would otherwise be a waste stream. A pioneer in this matter is Ecover. It is their mission to produce cleaning agents ecologically, economically and in a socially responsible manner….
Clusters for CO2 electrolyzers to Ethylene (CLUE)
CLUE aims to develop the next generation CO2 electrolyzers for sustainable production of ethylene with reduced carbon footprint by designing novel, selective and highly robust electrocatalysts using an innovative approach based on Cluster Beam Deposition (CBD) technology. For electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethylene, stimulating results have recently been obtained mainly on copper-based catalysts, yielding relatively high Faradaic efficiency (FE ≈ 60-70%) and current densities (100-200 mA cm−2) by using a flow cell with a gas diffusion electrode. Although the prospects for electrochemical ethylene production are promising, several challenges need…
Intensification of CO2 capture processes (CAPTIN-2)
While capture of CO2 is crucial to reduce CO2-emissions, the high cost and technological limitations of available technologies restrict their successful and general industrial deployment in the CO2 capture and utilization (CCU) context. Moreover, given the limited potential of carbon utilization (e.g. the use of CO2 for the production methanol and urea has a sequestration potential of only 0.5% of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions), Carbon Capture is essential to limit global warming. To allow economically justifiable capture and conversion of CO2 into chemicals, CAPTIN aimed at the development of…
NuCryPept-control – Control of Nucleation and Crystallization of Oligopeptides in Flow
The NuCryPept-control project aims to create tools for the simplification of parameter-space exploration in the development of oligopeptide nucleation and crystallization. We are developing precise and accurate control technologies for various parameters in the crystallization process (pH, composition, concentration, temperature) that not only work on microscale, but in addition are scalable, so that the same technologies used for screening can also be applied in manufacturing to unburden, through crystallization, the purification process of biomacromolecules, which is currently expensive and inefficient.
Reactive Amine Scrubbing for CO2 Conversion
The project aims at developing innovative continuous flow technologies with as prospective industrial implementation. Flow technology is especially useful for continuous processes and can be implemented at different levels going from efficient and economic screening of process conditions to process intensification.
Flow technology as solution for up-scaling and increasing efficiency of chemical processes
The project aims at developing innovative continuous flow technologies with as prospective industrial implementation. Flow technology is especially useful for continuous processes and can be implemented at different levels going from efficient and economic screening of process conditions to process intensification
SYNergetic design of CATalytic materials for integrated photo- and electrochemical CO2 conversion processes (SYN-CAT)
The objective of the project is to combine photo- and electrochemistry into a photo-electrocatalytic approach to convert CO2 into methanol.
Paired electrocatalytic alkane dehydrogenation and CO2 reduction in a multicompartment electroreactor using metal-organic framework based proton conducting membranes
Alkane dehydrogenation is a central reaction not only in current chemical industry, but also in the revalorization of polyolefin waste feedstock. Dehydrogenation is endothermic and at high temperature (> 500°C) faces selectivity challenges
Beyond the limits of mass transfer: design of 3D pillar electrodes in redox flow batteries
Return Beyond the limits of mass transfer: design of 3D pillar electrodes in redox flow batteries November 2020 – October 2024 Renewable intermittent power sources such as solar panels and windmills pose big challenges regarding production-consumption profile matching. To solve this issue, batteries can offer a sustainable solution. More specific, redox flow batteries are an interesting technology since in these batteries the storage capacity is decoupled from the size of the battery by actively circulating the electrolyte through the battery. Consequently, they are highly interesting for long-term and large-scale energy…
Unlocking the triple nitrogen bond: increasing the Faradaic efficiency with enhanced electrocatalysts achieved through a combination of high-end electrochemistry and electron microscopy.
One of the greatest global challenges is the minimization of greenhouse gas emissions. Finding a more eco-friendly alternative to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process is one way of tackling this problem. This project therefore focuses on the development of the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions since it is more energy efficient. Unfortunately, current catalysts for this process have very low activities and selectivities. Here, we will design a new state-of-the-art catalyst: Fe-Au core-shell NPs on nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) supports. Both Fe and Au have shown great promise…