A nickel-industry catalyst opens new frontiers

“In classic catalysts, without a clearing, the nickel tends to interact with the compounds of the biomass forming carbon residues which, accumulating on the surface of the catalyst, progressively block its activity” Filippo Bossola, CNR-Scitec researcher explains. “This phenomenon drastically reduces the duration of the catalyst and makes the process less sustainable from an economic point of view“.

“The integration of these experimental analyzes with predictive atomistic models, computational tools that simulate the behavior of materials and molecules at the atomic level, has made it possible to fully understand the stabilization mechanism: the challenge acts as a protective barrier, preventing the deposition of the carbon and guaranteeing greater duration and efficiency of the catalyst“, Continue Bossola. “Being able to observe the catalysts in action was essential to understand the role of e who improve the stability of the nickel -based catalyst. This discovery opens the way to the development of new strategies that could revolutionize the production of biomass hydrogen, thus contributing to the transition to a cleaner and sustainable energy“, The researcher concludes.

The study, published in the magazine Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy, is the result of the collaboration between the various CNR research institutes, including the “Giulio Natta” chemical sciences institute in Milan, the Compounds Chemistry Institute organometallic and the institute for the chemical-physical processes of Pisa, the University of Pavia and the European Synchrotron Grenoble Radiation Facility.

The study was carried out in the context of the projects “Mase – Por H2 ADP Project, Funded by the EU PNRR, Mission 2, Component 2, Investment 3.5” Research and Development On Hydrogen “,” Mase – Mission Innovation Poa 2021–2023 – Hydrogen Demo Valley: Multifunctional infrastructures for the experimentation and demonstration of technologies Hydrogen “and” European Union’s Horizon 2020 Msca-Itn Bimetallic Catalyst Knowledge-Based Development for Energy Applications “.