Surface, interface and materials science

The performance of a catalyst support — whether alumina or zeolite — depends on the properties of its porous microstructure: porosity, specific surface area, and the connectivity of the solid network, which govern the access of reactants to active sites. Designing an optimal support thus amounts to solving an inverse problem, i.e., identifying the microstructure, and then the manufacturing parameters, that satisfy a set of property specifications.

The SPE11 benchmark study, conducted under the auspices of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), brought together teams of researchers from universities, research organizations, and companies specializing in geological CO₂ storage [1]. The purpose of the project was to compare the performance of numerical simulators designed for this particular application. Based on test cases with common input data and evaluation criteria, the study analyzed the ability of calculation codes to reproduce the main physical processes at play in the injection and migration of CO₂ in geological reservoirs.

While macroscopic models combined with experimental analysis of porosity are well established for geometrically simple pores, hierarchized and disordered microstructures defy existing frameworks and call into question conventional interpretations. We proposed a digital framework to help overcome this challenge, taking into account morphology, connectivity and pore size distribution...

Transport of molecules within porous structures that adsorb on the surfaces plays an important role in numerous contexts and very different applications. These include pollutant transport in soils, industrial catalytic conversion and purification processes, and chromatographic techniques...

Although the climate crisis makes the reduction of CO2 emissions a matter of urgency, some industries will have difficulty in avoiding them, such as cement plants (where the core process is currently based on the calcination of CaCO3) or refineries, which are currently highly energy-intensive. Hence the huge potential interest in procedures that could capture the CO2 released directly from the plant (...) then recover it at a fraction of the energy cost...

The increase in the level of atmoshpheric CO2 and the resulting climate change are a global concern. Despite this, the use of fossil fuels continues to grow, in response to high energy demand. Combined with storage and CO2 conversion solutions, Chemical Looping Combustion processes (CLC) offer a medium-term solution to reducing the impact of energy production from fossil fuels, or even biomass...

The design of high-quality porous materials is a major challenge for the energy efficiency of industrial processes in the fields of catalysis and biocatalysis and separation and purification operations. For such applications, these materials derive their properties of interest from their specific microstructure, incorporating a large quantity of empty spaces that are organized and connected on a nanometric scale. IFPEN and Saint Gobain Research Provence (SGRP) joined forces to acquire a tool that will ultimately facilitate the development of porous materials optimized for given usages.