UMons: Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials (LPCM)

General expertise of the research group

UMONS counts 7 faculties, 2 schools, 10 research institutes, 3 partner research centers, a dozen spin-off companies and operates on two campuses for nearly 8000 students and 90 research teams across 40 nationalities; strongly encourages interdisciplinarity both regionally and internationally and knowledge transfer. In Chemistry and Materials engineering holds the European label for “Research in Excellence”, is 175th “publications most cited by peers”, 170th “citation rate”, 36th “publication rate in collaboration with other international institutions” and 1st/2d Belgian university/11 (U-Multirank 2018). The UMONS MATERIALS Institute offers research on synthesis and implementation methods, characterization and applications with end-of-life scenarios. As part of it, the LPCM (head: J.-M. Raquez) is internationally recognized in (i) polymer synthesis, (ii) polymer blends and (nano)materials, (iii) industry-relevant batch and continuous processes, (iv) polymer materials ecotoxicity and end-of-life. Knowledge is constantly transferred to Society via local and network-wide teaching/research and training, mobility and intersectoral exposure at all levels (students & professionals). LPCM EU projects count H2020-EJD, H2020-RISE, H2020-ERANET, FP-7, FP-6, and ERA-NET as well as National Programs

Specific hydrogen- related expertise & research topics

In the framework of the hydrogen-related expertise, LPCM is active in the design of polymeric composites with advanced properties for hydrogen storage. More specifically, innovative solutions will be addressed via the design of polymeric composites with key-features (fire-resistance, enhanced barrier properties, and so on.) using extrusion technologies and related techniques (plasma-based treatments).

Available equipment/tools:

• LPCM is equipped with the state-of-the-art equipements in the frame of polymeric composites as:Synthesis: ROP & RP equipments @ Lab-scale, 6 twin-screws extruders. 3D printing: SLA & FDM. Multi-scale characterization: 4 SEC, 1 automatic capillary viscosimeter; 1 automatic vapor phase osmometer/tonometer; 1 UV-VIS; 3 multinuclear NMR 600, 500 et 300 MHz; 2 FTIR; 2 viscosimeters; 1 Temperature-controlled tensiometer; 4 TGA (1 simultaneously coupled to a MS &
  FTIR); 4 DSC; 2 DMTA.

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

• Industrial collaboration at national level & participation to Win4Excellence TiNTHyN

Main relevant publications

1. Coppitters, D., Costa, A., Chauvy, R., Dubois, L., De paepe, W., Thomas, D., De weireld, G., & Contino, F. (July 2023). Energy, Exergy, Economic and Environmental (4E) analysis of integrated direct air capture and CO2 methanation under uncertainty. “Fuel, 344”, 127969. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2023.127969 Energy, Exergy, Economic and Environmental (4E) analysis of integrated direct air capture and CO.pdf (955kb)
2. Henrotin, A., Heymans, N.* , Nandi, S., Nouar, F., Mouchaham, G., Serre, C., & De Weireld, G. (2022). Simulations on Industrial Scale CO2 Capture Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption Using Mil-160(Al). “SSRN Electronic Journal”. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4283741 SSRN-id4283741.pdf (978kb)
3. Benzaqui, M., Wahiduzzaman, M., Zhao, H., Hasan, M. R., Steenhaut, T., Saad, A., Marrot, J., Normand, P., Grenèche, J.-M., Heymans, N., De Weireld, G., Tissot, A., Shepard, W., Filinchuk, Y., Hermans, S., Carn, F., Manlankowska, M., Téllez, C., Coronas, J., & Serre, C. (2022). A robust eco-compatible microporous iron coordination polymer for CO2 capture. “Journal of Materials Chemistry A”. TA-ART-12-2021-010385-NSteunou-highlighted_article.pdf (1068kb)
4. Chauvy, R., Dubois, L., Thomas, D., & De Weireld, G. (07 December 2021). Environmental impacts of the production of synthetic natural gas from industrial carbon dioxide. “Sustainable Production and Consumption, 30”, 301-315. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.12.004 Chauvy-Env-Impacts-With-SI-2021.pdf (3110kb)