The research activities of the group focus on the preparation of tailored, nanostructured catalytic materials for energy conversion and chemical storage. The main goal of the research is to reach a high level of preparative abilities of nanostructured materials and the understanding of their characteristics. Then, this strategy is applied to two main domains: i) H2 production from bioresources (mainly bioalcohols) using catalytic reforming and photocatalytic processes and, ii) the chemical recycling of CO2 trough catalytic conversion and photoreduction to chemicals and liquid fuels. Two PhD and four Master Thesis on these subjects have been achieved in the last period (2017-18).
Narcis Homs Martí (Full Professor) narcishomsmarti(at)ub.edu
Pilar Ramírez de la Piscina (Full Professor) pramirezdelapiscina(at)ub.edu
Maria Lourdes Mestres Vila (Full Professor)
Xavier Vendrell Villafruela (Tenure-Track Lecturer)
Adrià Sánchez Ruiz (Predoctoral Researcher)
Arturo Pajares Rojas (External Collaborator VITO, Belgium)
Induced p-type semiconductivity in Mg-doped Nd2Zr2O7 pyrochlore system. Vendrell X.; Santos-Veiga E.L.; Beltrán-Mir H.; Cordoncillo E.; Mestres L. 2023, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 43, 15. Doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2023.07.061
Particle size effect on the microstructure and the aging process of flash-sintered barium titanate from micro and nanopowders. López-Blanco S.; Vendrell X.; Mestres L.; Ochoa D.A.; García J.E. 2023, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 11, 37. Doi: 10.1039/d3tc02143b
Engineered MoxC/TiO2 interfaces for efficient noble metal-free photocatalytic hydrogen production. Wang Y., Mino L., Pellegrino F., Homs N., Ramírez de la Piscina P. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 318, 121783, 2022
Supported Nanostructured MoxC Materials for the Catalytic Reduction of CO2 through the Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction. Pajares A., Liu X., Busacker J.R., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Homs N. Nanomaterials, 12, 18, 3165, 2022.
Evolution of the optimal catalytic systems for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane: The role of adsorption in the catalytic performance. de Arriba A., Solsona B., Dejoz A.M., Concepción P., Homs N., de la Piscina P.R., López Nieto J.M. Journal of Catalysis, 408, 388, 400, 2022
Evolution of the optimal catalytic systems for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane: The role of adsorption in the catalytic performance. de Arriba A., Solsona B., Dejoz A.M., Concepción P., Homs N., de la Piscina P.R., López Nieto J.M. Journal of Catalysis. Journal of Catalysis. 2021
Ti-containing hybrid mesoporous organosilicas as photocatalysts for H2 production from ethanol. Wang Y., Homs N., Ramírez de la Piscina P. Journal of Materials Research and Technology. 2021, 14
Monitoring the insertion of Pt into Cu2−xSe nanocrystals: a combined structural and chemical approach for the analysis of new ternary phases. Casu A., Dalmases M., Lin M., Wang Y., Homs N., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Llorca J., Figuerola A., Falqui A. Nanoscale 2020, 12, 16627–16638
Critical effect of carbon vacancies on the reverse water gas shift reaction over vanadium carbide catalysts. Pajares A., Prats H., Romero A., Viñes F., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Sayós R., Homs N., Illas F. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2020, 267, 118719
Photocatalytic H2 production from ethanol aqueous solution using TiO2 with tungsten carbide nanoparticles as co-catalyst. Pajares A., Wang Y., Kronenberg M.J., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Homs N. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2020, 45(40), 20558-20567
Preparation and characterization of bulk MoXC catalysts and their use in the reverse water-gas shift reaction. Liu X., Pajares A., Calinao Matienzo D.D., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Homs N. Catalysis Today 2020, 356, 384-389
Behaviour of Pt/TiO2 catalysts with different morphological and structural characteristics in the photocatalytic conversion of ethanol aqueous solutions. Sola A.C., Ramírez de la Piscina P., Homs N. Catalysis Today 2020, 341, 13-20
– Catalizadores basados en carburos 2D (MXenes) para procesos de producción de H2 y reducción de CO2 (2DCATSxH2&CO2). IP: Homs Martí, Narcís. Agencial Estatal de Investigación: PID2020-116031RB-I00.
– Diseño de catalizadores basados en carburos de metales de transicion eficientes en procesos de producción de H2 y para la activacion selectiva de CO2. MAT2017-87500-P. IP: Homs Martí, Narcís. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. 2018-2020
– Desarrollo de nuevos catalizadores para la reducción selectiva de CO2 y su transformación mediante procesos integrados a combustibles líquidos oxigenados MAT2014-52416-P. IP: Homs Martí, Narcís. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. 2015-2017
– Generalitat de Catalunya, 2017SGR1086
The MATCAT organized (Pilar Ramirez de la Piscina and Paulina Raquel Martinez-Alanis, Chair and Secretary, respectively of the organizing committee and Narcis Homs president of the scientific committee) the HYCELTEC 2019 symposium, devoted to H2 and related technologies, fuel cells and advanced batteries, held in Barcelona 1-3 July 2019.
Microwave and ultrasonic facilities for synthesis and reaction
TG-DSC-microcalorimetry coupled to MS
TPR/TPO/TPD analysis coupled to MS
In-situ DRIFTS coupled to MS facility
Thermal and photocatalytic reactors with on-line GC-MS analysis
Dr. Marcelo Maciel Pereira, UFRJ, Brazil
Dr. Elisabete Assaf, IQSC, USP, Brazil
Dr. Jamil Toyir, Fez, Morocco
Dr. Weijie Cai, Dalian, China