Preparation of bioinspired macroporous perovskitic materials for application in microwave plasma gas reforming

• Grant number: 22/04553-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2022
• End date: May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Rodolfo Foster Klein-Gunnewiek
• Grantee: Iago Cordeiro Santa Bárbara
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The emission of CO2 (one of the main greenhouse gases) in the year 2018 was almost 35 Mton, almost double when compared to the emission of approximately 20 Mton in the early 1990s. There are some routes to emission reduction: the reduction itself, which can be unfeasible or complicated in some processes, such as steelmaking processes, production of raw materials (ammonia, cement and others) and industrial processes in general; capture and storage; and the reduction and/or transformation of carbon dioxide into other compounds (CO, methanol, methane, formaldehyde and others) that can be used as raw materials for subsequent industrial processes. Ferroelectric materials are important for industrial development due to the wide range of applications such as sensors and actuators. Among them, perovskites are widely used, especially titanates where the A site of the ABO3 system is occupied by alkaline earth elements, such as Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba. Sr and Ba titanates are well known, studied and used, due to the high dielectric constant and crystal polarization. A possible application is in plasma catalytic systems, in which they showed excellent performance in a plasma CO2 reduction process. Due to the excellent dielectric properties and chemical stability of these titanates, this project aims to obtain bioinspired macroporous ceramic samples by microwave sintering from lead-free perovskitic materials (MgTiO3, (Sr,Ba)TiO3 and BCZT (BZT-xBCT, where x is at morphotropic contour)) and verification of the possibility of CO2 reduction by microwave plasma. The materials will be obtained by rapid microwave synthesis based on polymeric precursors, followed by replica conformation under the common bushing structure (Luffa sp.). The pieces will be sintered by microwave and characterized as to the phases present by XRD, surface area by gas adsorption and desorption, microstructure (MEV), physical properties and CO2 reduction performance under plasma. The scholarship holder will have contact with the technique of powder synthesis, shaping and sintering and application of the device in a technique of academic and technological interest: microwave plasma catalysis. (AU)