This study investigates the catalytic activity for soot combustion of Ag nanoparticles dispersed on various supports showing different redox properties. Temperature programmed soot oxidation and isotopic exchange experiments were performed to assess the impact of the soot/catalyst contact, the oxygen partial pressure and the ageing toward activity. Three different contact modes have been used to clearly highlight the catalytic performances: loose, tight and supertight. Whatever the support, in both loose and tight contact modes, the catalytic performances are linked with the Ag surface concentration which was found to be high on zirconia-based catalysts and low on ceria-zirconia. The ignition of the soot combustion process occurs on Ag nanoparticles except for catalysts supported on Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), a pure oxygen ionic conductor, where Ag nanoparticles only promote the run-away of the reaction at higher temperatures. Catalysts based on SiO2, ZrO2 and YSZ exhibit a remarkable hydrothermal stability as performances in tight contact mode are fairly similar after the hydrothermal ageing.

Solvents purification mainly used in pharmaceutical field such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) were performed through hybrid silica membranes and from binary and multi-components mixtures. Two hybrid silica membranes—zirconia doped bis(triethoxysilyl)methane and bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE)—were studied. Flux, permeance, and separation factor were evaluated depending on temperature, composition, and number of organic compounds in the feed. Dehydration tests of acetone were operated at 30 and 45 °C following by acetone and MEK purification at 50 °C from multi-components hydro-organic mixtures where hydrophilic compounds (water, methanol) but also hydrophobic (dichloromethane (DCM) and/or toluene) were present. Results showed that the presence of Zr nanoparticles affected flux and improved selectivity in the case of dehydration. Experiments related to acetone and MEK purification, revealed a mass transfer alteration and a decrease of performance, from 99 to 97 wt% and from 98 to 95 wt% respectively, when the number of compounds in the initial feed grown up and more precisely, in the presence of DCM and toluene thus highlighting a possible coupling effect.

Plasma enhancement gases (PEGs) (such as: nitrogen, neon, argon and other inert gases) are injected into the plasma of several tokamaks in order to reduce the power load over the plasma facing components. The exhaust gas in the tokamak demonstration reactor (DEMO) consists of more than 90% of unburned fuel gas (D and T) and the remaining part will be He, PEGs and impurities. In DEMO reactor it is foreseen to recover the fuel gas and PEGs. The research focuses to remove the He from fuel gas and PEGs from fusion reactor. For this purpose, six commercial ceramic membranes have been tested at a permeation apparatus built at ENEA Casaccia laboratories. Single gas permeances for H2, He, Ar and air were measured with a pressure drop across the membranes between 10 Pa up to 100 kPa at room temperature. The selectivities found are low except for the 0.5 nm pore size membranes. The membranes have been supplied by Ceramiques Tecniques et Industrielles (CTI SA, France).

This study investigates a potential synergy between Ag nanoparticles and Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ), an oxygen ionically conducting support, for developing an efficient and stable catalyst for Diesel Particulate Filter regeneration only with oxygen. The catalytic performances as well as the mechanism for soot combustion were thoroughly analyzed through Temperature-Programmed Oxidation and isotopic experiments. We found that Ag/YSZ catalysts reach the highest activity for low contents of Ag, i.e. 2 wt%. Isotopic experiments were carefully performed to prove that active oxygen species originate from YSZ lattice. Silver was shown to promote soot oxidation activity by activating the dissociative adsorption of oxygen that can replenish the YSZ support.

A catalyst based on Pd and Rh nanoparticles supported on a Gadolinia-Doped Ceria support, a mixed O2−/e− ionic electronic conductor (MIEC), has been prepared and washcoated in SiC catalyzed gasoline particulate filters (cGPF) prototypes. These filters have been prepared and tested for the aftertreatment of gasoline direct injection engine exhausts. Catalytic performances of various configurations of cGPFs (different catalyst loadings and locations) have been carried out near real conditions and compared with those of a commercial three-way converter TC as well as a monolith washcoated with the same MIEC-supported catalyst. Among all the samples tested, the most promising one is a GPF equipped with a SiC filtration membrane on which a catalytic layer has been washcoated. This cGPF combines good filtering efficiency, due to the membrane, and remarkable catalytic performances in presence of soot and water. The catalytic performance is greater than those of a commercial TC, in spite of a 9 times lower platinum group metal loading. This is attributed to both self-sustained electrochemical promotion and a higher availability of the active sites localized on the membrane.

In the quest of YBa2Cu3O(7-δ) (Y123) bulk superconductors providing strong magnetic fields without failure, it is of paramount importance to achieve high thermal stabilities to safeguard the magnetic energy inside them during the trapping-field process, and sufficient mechanical reliability to withstand the stresses derived from the Lorenz force. Herein, we experimentally demonstrate a temperature rise induced by dissipative flux motion inside an Y123 thin-wall superconductor, and a significant thermal exchange in a composite bulk Y123 cryomagnet realized by embedding this superconductor with high thermal-conductivity metal network. It resulted in stimulating the maximum trapped field Bm, which reached 6.46 T on 15.9 mm-diameter single disk superconductor after magnetization by field cooling to 17 K under 7 T, leading to an improvement of 18% compared to the thin-wall superconductor. The composite cryomagnet particularly revealed the potential to trap stronger fields if larger magnetic activation is available. By virtue of the pore-free and crack-free microstructure of this cryomagnet, its strength σR was estimated to be 363 MPa, the largest one obtained so far for Y123 bulk superconductors, thus suggesting a striking mechanical reliability that seems to be sufficient to sustain stresses derived from trapped fields stronger than any values hitherto reported.

In this work we report on a novel concept for the preparation of gas selective composite membranes by a simple and robust synthesis protocol involving a controlled in-situpolycondensation of functional alkoxysilanes within the pores of a mesoporous ceramic matrix. This innovative approach targets the manufacture of thin nanocomposite membranes, allowing good compromise between permeability, selectivity and thermomechanical strength. Compared to simple infiltration, the synthesis protocol allows a controlled formation of gas separation membranes from size-adjusted functional alkoxysilanes by a chemical reaction within the mesopores of a ceramic support, without any formation of a thick and continuous layer on the support top-surface. Membrane permeability can thus be effectively controlled by the thickness and pore size of the mesoporous layer, and by the oligomers chain length. The as-prepared composite membranes are expected to possess a good mechanical and thermomechanical resistance and exhibit a thermally activated transport of He and H2 up to 150 °C, resulting in enhanced separation factors for specific gas mixtures e.g. FH2/CO ∼ 10; FH2/CO2 ∼ 3; FH2/CH4 ∼ 62.

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a promising carbon capture technology where cyclic reduction and oxidation of a metallic oxide, which acts as a solid oxygen carrier, takes place. With this system, direct contact between air and fuel can be avoided, and so, a concentrated CO2 stream is generated after condensation of the water in the exit gas stream. An interesting reactor system for CLC is a packed bed reactor as it can have a higher efficiency compared to a fluidized bed concept, but it requires other types of oxygen carrier particles. The particles must be larger to avoid a large pressure drop in the reactor and they must be mechanically strong to withstand the severe reactor conditions. Therefore, oxygen carriers in the shape of granules and based on the mineral ilmenite were subjected to thermal cycling and creep tests. The mechanical strength of the granules before and after testing was investigated by crush tests. In addition, the microstructure of these oxygen particles was studied to understand the relationship between the physical properties and the mechanical performance.It was found that the granules are a promising shape for a packed bed reactor as no severe degradation in strength was noticed upon thermal cycling and creep testing. Especially, the addition of Mn2O3 to the ilmenite, which leads to the formation of an iron–manganese oxide, seems to results in stronger granules than the other ilmenite-based granules.

The efficiency and the selectivity of a model platinum based catalyst supported on a modified ceria–zirconia oxide was evaluated in the NOx storage-reduction (NSR) process at four catalytic scales: powder, (0.5″×1.5″) flow-through monolith (FTM) system, small size (1″×2″) and full size (5.66″×10″) catalysed Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).The washcoating of the active phase over FTM affects both the NOx storage properties and the NOx reduction step. The reduction step efficiency is especially decreased at low temperatures. It is associated with an incomplete regeneration of the storage sites and with a strong NOx desorption peak during the rich pulses of the NSR process for the FTM supported system. The NOx reduction selectivity is also strongly affected by the upscale, with an important N2O selectivity detected over FTM. The recorded NOx profiles during NSR cycles indicate a probable diffusion limitation. However, same trends were observed for both powder and FTM systems concerning the effect of the reductant mixture, for both NSR efficiency and N-compounds selectivity.After incorporation of the active phase in the porosity of the DPF, a sharp drop in NOx storage properties and subsequently in NSR efficiency are observed. Supplementary tests suggest that the diffusion from the platinum oxidizing sites to the storage sites is again very affected by the upscale. Finally, the engine bench tests confirm the low DeNOx activity of the DPF system.

Widespread use of YBa2Cu3O7‐δ (Y123) bulk superconductors as source of strong magnetic fields requires development of high‐performance materials sufficiently reliable with improved thermal transfer ability. An effective approach based primarily on the growth of bulk Y123 single domains comprising a holes‐network to diminish the oxygen diffusion paths is reported here, as well as their progressive annealing at high temperature under oxygen pressure to reduce undue stresses and processing time. Finely, it aims to stimulate the thermal exchange inside the superconductor and compensate for induced magnetic stresses during the field‐trapping process. The approach brings considerable time and energy savings, and turns out to knock down barriers having stymied hitherto the use of Y123 bulk superconductors for engineering applications. Indeed, it enables the achievement of a pore‐free and crack‐free microstructure yielding marked fracture toughness and promoting large size persistent current loops, thereby boosting the trapped field performances. The fostering of the internal thermal exchange leads the maximum trapped field Bmax to shift to higher temperatures by up to 14 K. A value Bmax of 6.34 T is attained at 17 K on ≈16 mm‐diameter reinforced pellet (disk area s = 1.99 cm2), resulting in an outstanding field density Bmax/s=3.19 Tcm−2.