Catalysis and Energy Laboratory

Address: Av. Eduard Maristany, 10-14. 08019 BARCELONA
Telephone: +34 93 4011708
E-mail: jordi.llorcaupc.edu

Director: Jordi Llorca
Team: Núria J. Divins, Isabel Serrano, Lluís Soler, Xavier Vendrell, Marina Armengol, Andrea Braga, Yufen Chen, Alejandro Cifuentes, Shiva Fazli, Sonia García, Xènia García, Ilaria Lucentini, Jaroslaw Serafin, Congcong Xing

• Development, characterization and testing of catalysts and photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications.
• Technological transfer to companies interested in hydrogen technologies.

• Preparation and evaluation of catalysts for hydrogen production from conventional fuels, biofuels and agricultural and industrial waste.
• Preparation and evaluation of catalysts for selective oxidation reactions and elimination of atmospheric pollution.
• Characterisation of catalysts and nanoparticles with advanced techniques such as high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and photoelectronic X-ray spectroscopy (XPS).
• Design, modelling and building of catalytic wall reactors and microreactors for hydrogen generation in portable applications.
• Functional study of silicon structures with micro fuel cells applications related to electronic consumer goods.
• Development of membrane reactors for the simultaneous production and separation of hydrogen for fuel cells in portable applications.
• Design, modelling, control and construction of hydrogen reformers for decentralised generation applications.
• Preparation of catalytic structures by 3D printing.

The laboratory is equipped for the preparation of catalysts, nanoparticles and other materials and for carrying out thermal treatment under controlled atmospheres. There are also 3D-printing systems and mechanochemical synthesis apparatus for the preparation of catalysts. It has fixed bed reactors for continuous thermal reactions, batch reactors, photoreactors, membrane reactors, catalytic wall reactors and microreactors. It also has complete reaction systems with on-line product analysis by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. There is also a FTIR spectrometer for the follow-up of reactions at a given pressure and temperature, and TPR/TPO/TPD systems to study redox characteristics and solid adsorption. In addition, it benefits from the advanced characterization techniques of the Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale and Technology.