UHasselt: Institute for Materials Research (IMO-IMOMEC) / Design and synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials (DESINe)

General expertise of the research group

The DESINe group specializes in environmentally friendly methods for synthesizing nanostructured inorganic materials for sustainable energy applications. Recent efforts target oxide, metal, polyanionic, and sulfide-based materials for energy storage in batteries, including lithium-ion, sodium-ion, and lithium-sulfur batteries. The applications extend to thermochromic coating windows, photo/electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, and hydrogen production, contributing to enhanced energy efficiency and diverse power supply applications.

Specific hydrogen- related expertise & research topics

• Regarding H2 generation, the DESINe group is currently focusing on materials for:
  • Photocatalytic hydrogen generation: stabilizing ZnOAl as a photocatalyst, understanding the interplay between synthesis, formation of defects, and catalytic function
  • Photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation: design and synthesis of thin films and powderbased materials with catalytic activity in the photoelectrochemical water splitting
  • (PEM) electrolysis: design and synthesis of catalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions in PEM electrolysis cells
• DESINe’s research activities in this scope concentrate on:
  • The design and synthesis of light harvesting and electrocatalytic materials with optimal composition and morphology.
  • Establishing innovative synthesis methods while assessing atom and energy efficiency, enabling precise control over material properties such as light absorption, crystal phase, size, morphology, porosity, and surface characteristics.
• Analysing structure-morphology-function relationships comprehensively using spectroscopic and microscopic tools
• Assessing the fundamental functional properties of materials, both as solar absorbers and electrocatalysts in standalone components.

Available equipment/tools:

• State-of-the-art chemical synthesis and analytical laboratories (commissioned in 2020) including Nanolabs up to risk level 3 (high risk)
• Solution synthesis equipment (solvothermal reactors with sampling possibilities, Schlenk lines, etc)
• Spraydryer for particle production
• High-temperature furnaces and RTP
• High-speed centrifuge (max. 20 000g)
• Coating equipment (tape-casting, Spin-coater, dip-coater and spray-coater)
• Gloveboxes (N2 and Ar)
• Potentiostats and (photo-)electrochemical cells
• Custom built setup for evaluating the light-assisted catalytic reactions, equipped with a Xe-arc light source and MicroGC Gas chromatography
• N2 sorption – BET
• XRD
• SEM and TEM
• FTIR and Raman, UV-Vis spectroscopy
• Mass spectrometry

Participating in FL/B/EU funded projects with H2 related research:

• Green Hydrogen Lab: Relance Vlaamse Veerkracht project
• Grand challenges BOF project UHasselt, Clean H2, partnering Dirk Vanderzande, An Hardy, Koen Vandewal, Momo Safari, and Robert Malina of UHasselt.
• Bilateral BOF PhD scholarship UHasselt – UNamur on photocatalytic water splitting with AZO, partners: M.K. Van Bael, An Hardy, and Peter Adriaensens (UHasselt), Carmela Aprile and Luca Fusaro (UNamur). Also, in collaboration with Sammy Verbruggen, Pegie Cool and Silvia Lenaerts at UAntwerp.
• BE-HYFE: BE-HyFE – Belgian Hydrogen Fundamental Expertise; ETF project
• T-REX: On the transition to more Renewable Energy in power-to-X applications: ETF project
• SYN-CAT: Synergetic design of catalytic materials for integrated photo- and electrochemical CO2 conversion processes; Funding: VLAIO-MOT

International collaborations

• Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek (TNO) Eindhoven, The Netherlands dr. Pascal Buskens
• Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South-Korea Prof. dr. Byungha Shin

Main relevant publications

1. Facile Aqueous Solution‐Gel Route toward Thin Film CuBi2O4 Photocathodes for Solar Hydrogen Production; Bjorn Joos, Ken Elen, Jonathan van den Ham, Nicole Meulendijks, Pascal Buskens, Andreas Paulus, Koen Wouters, Jean Manca, Jan D’Haen, Sudhanshu Shukla, Bart Vermang, Marlies Van Bael, An Hardy; Advanced Sustainable Systems, 2300083
2. Photocatalytic Performance of Undoped and Al-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles in the Degradation of Rhodamine B under UV-Visible Light: The Role of Defects and Morphology; Alessandra Piras, Chiara Olla, Gunter Reekmans, An-Sofie Kelchtermans, Dries De Sloovere, Ken Elen, Carlo Maria Carbonaro, Luca Fusaro, Peter Adriaensens, An Hardy, Carmela Aprile, Marlies K Van Bael; International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23 (24), 15459
3. Sunlight-Powered Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction Catalysed by Plasmonic Au/TiO2 Nanocatalysts: Effects of Au Particle Size on the Activity and Selectivity; Jordi Volders, Ken Elen, Arno Raes, Rajeshreddy Ninakanti, An-Sofie Kelchtermans, Francesc Sastre, An Hardy, Pegie Cool, Sammy W
   Verbruggen, Pascal Buskens, Marlies K Van Bael; Nanomaterials 12 (23), 4153
4. Comparing the Performance of Supported Ru Nanocatalysts Prepared by Chemical Reduction of RuCl3 and Thermal Decomposition of Ru3 (CO) 12 in the Sunlight-Powered Sabatier Reaction; Daria Burova, Jelle Rohlfs, Francesc Sastre, Pau Martinez Molina, Nicole Meulendijks, Marcel A Verheijen, An-Sofie Kelchtermans, Ken Elen, An Hardy, Marlies K Van Bael, Pascal Buskens; Catalysts 12 (3), 284
5. Precursor Design Strategies for the Low‐Temperature Synthesis of Functional Oxides: It’s All in the Chemistry; W Marchal, D De Sloovere, M Daenen, MK Van Bael, A Hardy; Chemistry–A European Journal 26 (42), 9070-9083
6. Remarkable lowering in the synthesis temperature of LiMn2O4 via citrate solution-gel synthesis facilitated by ethanol, Maino, G; Carleer, R.; Marchal, W.; Bonneux, G.; Hardy, A.; Van Bael, M.K. Dalton Transactions, 2017 46 (43) 14934-14946
7. Ultrasonic spray deposition of metal oxide films on high aspect ratio microstructures for 3D allsolidstate Li-ion batteries ; E. Jonathan van den Ham, Sven Gielis, Marlies Van Bael, An Hardy; ACS Energy Letters, 2016 1, p.1184-1188
8. Factors influencing the conductivity of aqueous sol(ution)-gel processed Al-doped ZnO films; H. Damm, P. Adriaensens, C. De Dobbelaere, B. Capon, K. Elen, J. Drijkoningen, B. Conings, J. Manca, J. D’Haen, C. Detavernier, P.C.M.M. Magusin, J. Hadermann, A. Hardy, M.K. Van Bael , Chemistry of
   Materials 26(20) (2014) 5839-5851