CANMILK

01

IST will undergo the study of surface kinetics of CH4-air mixtures and O2 or H2 plasma products on selected catalytic surfaces.
A mesoscopic numerical model will be employed, describing adsorption, desorption, diffusion, dissociation and recombination of different species on the surface.
The model will allow us to identify the main chemical pathways on each specific catalytic surface to the desired products, as well as the biggest barriers.
The knowledge obtained on the dominant mechanisms favouring methane oxidation will be helpful to show where further gains can be made in catalyst development.

02

The catalytic surfaces will be mapped to determine the adsorption sites by performing density functional theory (DFT) studies.
The parameters that are needed by the surface kinetics model (activation barriers and reaction frequencies) will be acquired for the interaction between the different species of interest and different catalysts by DFT calculations.
The methodology will be refined with some key reactions and data from literature.

03

The accuracy and reliability of the surface kinetics model needs to be validated against dedicated experiments for a few controlled conditions.
These will be performed at IST via operando/in-situ FTIR spectroscopy.
Operando FTIR spectroscopy studies will be performed under thermal and post-plasma catalysis conditions.

04

Biochar-based catalysts will be prepared under air oxidation conditions and used as support for the synthesis of Palladium-containing catalysts.
These catalysts will be characterized by conventional advanced techniques (e.g., N2 sorption, TGA, XRD, TEM) and tested under thermal and plasma catalysis conditions at IST in order to assess their potential to the intended process.
Preliminary studies will be performed to analyse the interactions between the surfaces and plasma-derived and CH4 species.

Carbon Neutral MILK