toggle visibility
Search within Results:
Display Options:

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Records Links
Author Wang, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Neyts, E.C.; Cao, X.; Zhang, X.; Jang, B.W.-L.; Liu, C.-jun doi  openurl
  Title Catalyst preparation with plasmas : how does it work? Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication ACS catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 2093-2110  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Catalyst preparation with plasmas is increasingly attracting interest. A plasma is a partially ionized gas, consisting of electrons, ions, molecules, radicals, photons, and excited species, which are all active species for catalyst preparation and treatment. Under the influence of plasma, nucleation and crystal growth in catalyst preparation can be very different from those in the conventional thermal approach. Some thermodynamically unfavorable reactions can easily take place with plasmas. Compounds such as sulfides, nitrides, and phosphides that are produced under harsh conditions can be synthesized by plasma under mild conditions. Plasmas can produce catalysts with smaller particle sizes and controllable structure. Plasma is also a facile tool for reduction, oxidation, doping, etching, coating, alloy formation, surface treatment, and surface cleaning in a simple and direct way. A rapid and convenient plasma template removal has thus been established for zeolite synthesis. It can operate at room temperature and allows the catalyst preparation on temperature-sensitive supporting materials. Plasma is typically effective for the production of various catalysts on metallic substrates. In addition, plasma-prepared transition-metal catalysts show enhanced low-temperature activity with improved stability. This provides a useful model catalyst for further improvement of industrial catalysts. In this review, we aim to summarize the recent advances in catalyst preparation with plasmas. The present understanding of plasma-based catalyst preparation is discussed. The challenges and future development are addressed.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Amer chemical soc Place of Publication Washington Editor  
  Language Wos 000426804100055 Publication Date 2018-01-29  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10.614 Times cited 81 Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 10.614  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:150880 Serial 4963  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Yi, Y.; Wang, X.; Jafarzadeh, A.; Wang, L.; Liu, P.; He, B.; Yan, J.; Zhang, R.; Zhang, H.; Liu, X.; Guo, H.; Neyts, E.C.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-Catalytic Ammonia Reforming of Methane over Cu-Based Catalysts for the Production of HCN and H2at Reduced Temperature Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 11 Issue 3 Pages 1765-1773  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Industrial production of HCN from NH3 and CH4 not only uses precious Pt or Pt−Rh catalysts but also requires extremely high temperatures (∼1600 K). From an energetic, operational, and safety perspective, a drastic decrease in temperature is highly desirable. Here, we report ammonia reforming of methane for the production of HCN and H2 at 673 K by the combination of CH4/NH3 plasma and a supported Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst. 30% CH4 conversion has been achieved with 79% HCN selectivity. Catalyst characterization and plasma diagnostics reveal that the excellent reaction performance is attributed to metallic Cu active sites. In addition, we propose a possible reaction pathway, viz. E-R reactions with N, NH, NH2, and CH radicals produced in the plasma, for the production of HCN, based on density functional theory calculations. Importantly, the Cu/silicalite-1 catalyst costs less than 5% of the commercial Pt mesh catalyst.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000618540300057 Publication Date 2021-02-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10.614 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Universiteit Antwerpen, 32249 ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2015M580220 2016T90217 ; PetroChina Innovation Foundation, 2018D-5007-0501 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 21503032 ; We acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21503032], the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant numbers 2015M580220 and 2016T90217, 2016], the PetroChina Innovation Foundation [2018D-5007-0501], and the TOP research project of the Research Fund of the University of Antwerp [grant ID 32249]. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 10.614  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:175880 Serial 6675  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Han, I.; Song, I.S.; Choi, S.A.; Lee, T.; Yusupov, M.; Shaw, P.; Bogaerts, A.; Choi, E.H.; Ryu, J.J. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Bioactive Nonthermal Biocompatible Plasma Enhances Migration on Human Gingival Fibroblasts Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2023 Publication Advanced healthcare materials Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 12 Issue 4 Pages 2200527  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract This study hypothesizes that the application of low-dose nonthermal biocompatible dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBD-NBP) to human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) will inhibit colony formation but not cell death and induce matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, and subsequent cell migration, which can result in enhanced wound healing. HGFs treated with plasma for 3 min migrate to each other across the gap faster than those in the control and 5-min treatment groups on days 1 and 3. The plasma-treated HGFs show significantly high expression levels of the cell cycle arrest-related p21 gene and enhanced MMP activity. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) mediated attenuation of wound healing or actin cytoskeleton rearrangement, and plasma-mediated reversal of this attenuation support the migratory effect of DBD-NBP. Further, this work performs computer simulations to investigate the effect of oxidation on the stability and conformation of the catalytic kinase domain (KD) of FAK. It is found that the oxidation of highly reactive amino acids (AAs) Cys427, Met442, Cys559, Met571, Met617, and Met643 changes the conformation and increases the structural flexibility of the FAK protein and thus modulates its function and activity. Low-dose DBD-NBP-induces host cell cycle arrest, ECM breakdown, and subsequent migration, thus contributing to the enhanced wound healing process.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000897762100001 Publication Date 2022-11-14  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2192-2640 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 10 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes National Research Foundation of Korea; Kementerian Pendidikan, 2020R1I1A1A01073071 2021R1A6A1A03038785 ; Approved (up) Most recent IF: 10; 2023 IF: 5.11  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:192804 Serial 7242  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author De Backer, J.; Lin, A.; Berghe, W.V.; Bogaerts, A.; Hoogewijs, D. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Cytoglobin inhibits non-thermal plasma-induced apoptosis in melanoma cells through regulation of the NRF2-mediated antioxidant response Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal Redox Biol  
  Volume 55 Issue Pages 102399  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Proteinscience, proteomics and epigenetic signaling (PPES)  
  Abstract Melanoma arises from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes located in the basal layers of the epidermis of the skin. Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a ubiquitously expressed hexacoordinated globin that is highly enriched in me­lanocytes and frequently downregulated during melanomagenesis. Previously, we showed that non-thermal plasma (NTP)-produced reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) lead to the formation of an intra­ molecular disulfide bridge that would allow CYGB to function as a redox-sensitive protein. Here, we investigate the cytotoxic effect of indirect NTP treatment in two melanoma cell lines with divergent endogenous CYGB expression levels, and we explore the role of CYGB in determining treatment outcome. Our findings are consistent with previous studies supporting that NTP cytotoxicity is mediated through the production of RONS and leads to apoptotic cell death in melanoma cells. Furthermore, we show that NTP-treated solutions elicit an antioxidant response through the activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2). The knock­ down and overexpression of CYGB respectively sensitizes and protects melanoma cells from RONS-induced apoptotic cell death. The presence of CYGB enhances heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and NRF2 protein expression levels, whereas the absence impairs their expression. Moreover, analysis of the CYGB-dependent transcriptome demonstrates the tumor suppressor long non-coding RNA maternally expressed 3 (MEG3) as a hitherto unde­ scribed link between CYGB and NRF2. Thus, the presence of CYGB, at least in melanoma cells, seems to play a central role in determining the therapeutic outcome of RONS-inducing anticancer therapies, like NTP-treated solutions, possessing both tumor-suppressive and oncogenic features. Hence, CYGB expression could be of in­ terest either as a biomarker or as a candidate for future targeted therapies in melanoma.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000844595100002 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 11.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This work was funded in part by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. The FWO fellowships and grants that funded this work include: 12S9221 N (Abraham Lin) and G044420 N (Abraham Lin and Annemie Bogaerts). Joey De Backer acknowledges a visiting fellowship from the University of Fribourg. David Hoogewijs acknowledges support by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 31003A173000 and 310030207460). Approved (up) Most recent IF: 11.4  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:190635 Serial 7101  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Oliveira, M.C.; Verswyvel, H.; Smits, E.; Cordeiro, R.M.; Bogaerts, A.; Lin, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title The pro- and anti-tumoral properties of gap junctions in cancer and their role in therapeutic strategies Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Redox Biology Abbreviated Journal Redox Biol  
  Volume 57 Issue Pages 102503  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT); Center for Oncological Research (CORE)  
  Abstract Gap junctions (GJs), essential structures for cell-cell communication, are made of two hemichannels (commonly called connexons), one on each adjacent cell. Found in almost all cells, GJs play a pivotal role in many physi­ological and cellular processes, and have even been linked to the progression of diseases, such as cancer. Modulation of GJs is under investigation as a therapeutic strategy to kill tumor cells. Furthermore, GJs have also been studied for their key role in activating anti-cancer immunity and propagating radiation- and oxidative stress-induced cell death to neighboring cells, a process known as the bystander effect. While, gap junction (GJ)based therapeutic strategies are being developed, one major challenge has been the paradoxical role of GJs in both tumor progression and suppression, based on GJ composition, cancer factors, and tumoral context. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of action, regulation, and the dual characteristics of GJs in cancer is critical for developing effective therapeutics. In this review, we provide an overview of the current under­ standing of GJs structure, function, and paradoxical pro- and anti-tumoral role in cancer. We also discuss the treatment strategies to target these GJs properties for anti-cancer responses, via modulation of GJ function.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000871090800004 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2213-2317 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record  
  Impact Factor 11.4 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We thank Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES, Brazil) for the scholarship granted, and the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the University of Antwerp, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Founda­tion, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp, for providing the computational resources needed for running the simulations. This work was also funded in part by the funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. The FWO fellowships and grants that funded this work include: 12S9221N (Abraham Lin), G044420N (Abraham Lin and Annemie Bogaerts), and 1S67621N (Hanne Verswyvel). Figs. 1, 4 and 5 were created in BioRender.com. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 11.4  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:191362 Serial 7112  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Armelao, L.; Bertagnolli, H.; Bleiner, D.; Groenewolt, M.; Gross, S.; Krishnan, V.; Sada, C.; Schubert, U.; Tondello, E.; Zattin, A. doi  openurl
  Title Highly dispersed mixed zirconia and hafnia nanoparticles in a silica matrix: First example of a ZrO2-HfO2-SiO2 ternary oxide system Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2007 Publication Advanced functional materials Abbreviated Journal Adv Funct Mater  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract ZrO2 and HfO2 nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed in SiO2 matrices (supported film and bulk powders) by copolymerization of two oxozirconium and oxohafnium clusters (M4O(2)(OMc)(12), M= Zr, Hf; OMc = OC(O)-C(CH3)=CH2) with (methacryloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (MAPTMS, (CH2=C(CH3)C(O)O)-(CH2)(3)Si(OCH3)(3)). After calcination (at a temperature >= 800 degrees C), a silica matrix with homogeneously distributed MO2 nanocrystallites is obtained. This route yields a spatially homogeneous dispersion of the metal precursors inside the silica matrix, which is maintained during calcination. The composition of the films and the powders is studied before and after calcination by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). The local environment of the metal atoms in one of the calcined samples is investigated by using X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. Through X-ray diffraction (XRD) the crystallization of Hf and Zr oxides is seen at temperatures higher than those expected for the pure oxides, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows the presence of well-distributed and isolated crystalline oxide nanoparticles (540 nm).  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Weinheim Editor  
  Language Wos 000248062100011 Publication Date 2007-05-29  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1616-301x ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.124 Times cited 34 Open Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.124; 2007 IF: 7.496  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:95083 Serial 4521  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Khalilov, U.; Bogaerts, A.; Neyts, E.C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Atomic scale simulation of carbon nanotube nucleation from hydrocarbon precursors Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2015 Publication Nature communications Abbreviated Journal Nat Commun  
  Volume 6 Issue 6 Pages 10306  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Atomic scale simulations of the nucleation and growth of carbon nanotubes is essential for understanding their growth mechanism. In spite of over twenty years of simulation efforts in this area, limited progress has so far been made on addressing the role of the hydrocarbon growth precursor. Here we report on atomic scale simulations of cap nucleation of single-walled carbon nanotubes from hydrocarbon precursors. The presented mechanism emphasizes the important role of hydrogen in the nucleation process, and is discussed in relation to previously presented mechanisms. In particular, the role of hydrogen in the appearance of unstable carbon structures during in situ experimental observations as well as the initial stage of multi-walled carbon nanotube growth is discussed. The results are in good agreement with available experimental and quantum-mechanical results, and provide a basic understanding of the incubation and nucleation stages of hydrocarbon-based CNT growth at the atomic level.  
  Address PLASMANT research group, Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Wos 000367584500001 Publication Date 2015-12-22  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2041-1723 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.124 Times cited 37 Open Access  
  Notes The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Fund of Scientific Research Flanders (FWO), Belgium, grant number 12M1315N. The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the Universiteit Antwerpen. We thank Professor Adri C. T. van Duin for sharing the ReaxFF code. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.124; 2015 IF: 11.470  
  Call Number c:irua:129975 Serial 3990  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Chernozem, R., V; Romanyuk, K.N.; Grubova, I.; Chernozem, P., V.; Surmeneva, M.A.; Mukhortova, Y.R.; Wilhelm, M.; Ludwig, T.; Mathur, S.; Kholkin, A.L.; Neyts, E.; Parakhonskiy, B.; Skirtach, A.G.; Surmenev, R.A. pdf  doi
openurl 
  Title Enhanced piezoresponse and surface electric potential of hybrid biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate scaffolds functionalized with reduced graphene oxide for tissue engineering Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nano Energy Abbreviated Journal Nano Energy  
  Volume 89 Issue B Pages 106473  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Piezoelectricity is considered to be one of the key functionalities in biomaterials to boost bone tissue regeneration, however, integrating biocompatibility, biodegradability and 3D structure with pronounced piezoresponse remains a material challenge. Herein, novel hybrid biocompatible 3D scaffolds based on biodegradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) flakes have been developed. Nanoscale insights revealed a more homogenous distribution and superior surface potential values of PHB fibers (33 +/- 29 mV) with increasing rGO content up to 1.0 wt% (314 +/- 31 mV). The maximum effective piezoresponse was detected at 0.7 wt% rGO content, demonstrating 2.5 and 1.7 times higher out-of-plane and in-plane values, respectively, than that for pure PHB fibers. The rGO addition led to enhanced zigzag chain formation between paired lamellae in PHB fibers. In contrast, a further increase in rGO content reduced the alpha-crystal size and prevented zigzag chain conformation. A corresponding model explaining structural and molecular changes caused by rGO addition in electrospun PHB fibers is proposed. In addition, finite element analysis revealed a negligible vertical piezoresponse compared to lateral piezoresponse in uniaxially oriented PHB fibers based on alpha-phase (P2(1)2(1)2(1) space group). Thus, the present study demonstrates promising results for the development of biodegradable hybrid 3D scaffolds with an enhanced piezoresponse for various tissue engineering applications.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000703592700002 Publication Date 2021-08-31  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2211-2855 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.343 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.343  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:182579 Serial 7914  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Villarreal, R.; Lin, P.-C.; Faraji, F.; Hassani, N.; Bana, H.; Zarkua, Z.; Nair, M.N.; Tsai, H.-C.; Auge, M.; Junge, F.; Hofsaess, H.C.; De Gendt, S.; De Feyter, S.; Brems, S.; Ahlgren, E.H.; Neyts, E.C.; Covaci, L.; Peeters, F.M.; Neek-Amal, M.; Pereira, L.M.C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Breakdown of universal scaling for nanometer-sized bubbles in graphene Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2021 Publication Nano Letters Abbreviated Journal Nano Lett  
  Volume 21 Issue 19 Pages 8103-8110  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Condensed Matter Theory (CMT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract We report the formation of nanobubbles on graphene with a radius of the order of 1 nm, using ultralow energy implantation of noble gas ions (He, Ne, Ar) into graphene grown on a Pt(111) surface. We show that the universal scaling of the aspect ratio, which has previously been established for larger bubbles, breaks down when the bubble radius approaches 1 nm, resulting in much larger aspect ratios. Moreover, we observe that the bubble stability and aspect ratio depend on the substrate onto which the graphene is grown (bubbles are stable for Pt but not for Cu) and trapped element. We interpret these dependencies in terms of the atomic compressibility of the noble gas as well as of the adhesion energies between graphene, the substrate, and trapped atoms.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000709549100026 Publication Date 2021-09-14  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1530-6984 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.712 Times cited 12 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.712  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:184137 Serial 6857  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Nematollahi, P.; Barbiellini, B.; Bansil, A.; Lamoen, D.; Qingying, J.; Mukerjee, S.; Neyts, E.C. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Identification of a Robust and Durable FeN4CxCatalyst for ORR in PEM Fuel Cells and the Role of the Fifth Ligand Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication ACS catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume Issue Pages 7541-7549  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Although recent studies have advanced the understanding of pyrolyzed

Fe−N−C materials as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts, the atomic and

electronic structures of the active sites and their detailed reaction mechanisms still remain unknown. Here, based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT) computations, we discuss the electronic structures of three FeN4 catalytic centers with different local topologies of the surrounding C atoms with a focus on unraveling the mechanism of their ORR activity in acidic electrolytes. Our study brings back a forgotten, synthesized pyridinic Fe−N coordinate to the community’s attention, demonstrating that this catalyst can exhibit excellent activity for promoting direct four-electron ORR through the addition of a fifth ligand such as −NH2, −OH, and −SO4. We also identify sites with good stability properties through the combined use of our DFT calculations and Mössbauer spectroscopy data.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000823193100001 Publication Date 2022-06-10  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.9 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Basic Energy Sciences, DE-FG02-07ER46352 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 1261721N ; Opetus- ja Kulttuuriministeri?; Department of Energy, DE-EE0008416 ; Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.9  
  Call Number EMAT @ emat @c:irua:189000 Serial 7073  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Cui, Z.; Meng, S.; Yi, Y.; Jafarzadeh, A.; Li, S.; Neyts, E.C.; Hao, Y.; Li, L.; Zhang, X.; Wang, X.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-catalytic methanol synthesis from CO₂ hydrogenation over a supported Cu cluster catalyst : insights into the reaction mechanism Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 1326-1337  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma-catalytic CO, hydrogenation for methanol production is gaining increasing interest, but our understanding of its reaction mechanism remains primitive. We present a combined experimental/computational study on plasma-catalytic CO, hydrogenation to CH3OH over a size-selected Cu/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst. Our experiments demonstrate a synergistic effect between the Cu/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst and the CO2/H-2 plasma, achieving a CO2 conversion of 10% at 4 wt % Cu loading and a CH3OH selectivity near 50% further rising to 65% with H2O addition (for a H2O/CO2 ratio of 1). Furthermore, the energy consumption for CH3OH production was more than 20 times lower than with plasma only. We carried out density functional theory calculations over a Cu-13/gamma-Al2O3 model, which reveal that the interfacial sites of the Cu-13 cluster and gamma-Al2O3 support show a bifunctional effect: they not only activate the CO2 molecules but also strongly adsorb key intermediates to promote their hydrogenation further. Reactive plasma species can regulate the catalyst surface reactions via the Eley-Rideal (E-R) mechanism, which accelerates the hydrogenation process and promotes the generation of the key intermediates. H2O can promote the CH3OH desorption by competitive adsorption over the Cu-13/gamma-Al2O3 surface. This study provides new insights into CO2 hydrogenation through plasma catalysis, and it provides inspiration for the conversion of some other small molecules (CH4, N-2, CO, etc.) by plasma catalysis using supported-metal clusters.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000742735600001 Publication Date 2022-01-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.9 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.9  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:186416 Serial 7192  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Mehta, P.; Barboun, P.M.; Engelmann, Y.; Go, D.B.; Bogaerts, A.; Schneider, W.F.; Hicks, J.C. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-Catalytic Ammonia Synthesis beyond the Equilibrium Limit Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Acs Catalysis Abbreviated Journal Acs Catal  
  Volume 10 Issue 12 Pages 6726-6734  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract We explore the consequences of nonthermal plasma-activation on product yields in catalytic ammonia synthesis, a reaction that is equilibrium-limited at elevated temperatures. We employ a minimal microkinetic model that incorporates the influence of plasma-activation on N2 dissociation rates to predict NH3 yields into and across the equilibrium-limited regime. NH3 yields are predicted to exceed bulk thermodynamic equilibrium limits on materials that are thermal-rate-limited by N2 dissociation. In all cases, yields revert to bulk equilibrium at temperatures at which thermal reaction rates exceed plasma-activated ones. Beyond-equilibrium NH3 yields are observed in a packed bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor and exhibit sensitivity to catalytic material choice in a way consistent with model predictions. The approach and results highlight the opportunity to exploit synergies between nonthermal plasmas and catalysts to affect transformations at conditions inaccessible through thermal routes.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000543663800015 Publication Date 2020-06-19  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2155-5435 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 12.9 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes University of Notre Dame; Basic Energy Sciences, DE-SC-0016543 ; Air Force Office of Scientific Research, FA9550-18-1- 0157 ; This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Sustainable Ammonia Synthesis Program, under Award DE-SC-0016543 and by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, under Award FA9550-18-1-0157. P.M. acknowledges support through the Eilers Graduate Fellowship for Energy Related Research from the University of Notre Dame. Computational resources were provided by the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing. We thank the Notre Dame Energy Materials Characterization Facility and the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility for the use of the X-ray diffractometer and the transmission electron microscope, respectively. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 12.9; 2020 IF: 10.614  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:170713 Serial 6405  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Loenders, B.; Michiels, R.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Is a catalyst always beneficial in plasma catalysis? Insights from the many physical and chemical interactions Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Journal of Energy Chemistry Abbreviated Journal Journal of Energy Chemistry  
  Volume 85 Issue Pages 501-533  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract Plasma-catalytic dry reforming of CH4 (DRM) is promising to convert the greenhouse gasses CH4 and CO2 into value-added chemicals, thus simultaneously providing an alternative to fossil resources as feedstock for the chemical industry. However, while many experiments have been dedicated to plasma-catalytic DRM, there is no consensus yet in literature on the optimal choice of catalyst for targeted products, because the underlying mechanisms are far from understood. Indeed, plasma catalysis is very complex, as it encompasses various chemical and physical interactions between plasma and catalyst, which depend on many parameters. This complexity hampers the comparison of experimental results from different studies, which, in our opinion, is an important bottleneck in the further development of this promising research field. Hence, in this perspective paper, we describe the important physical and chemical effects that should be accounted for when designing plasma-catalytic experiments in general, highlighting the need for standardized experimental setups, as well as careful documentation of packing properties and reaction conditions, to further advance this research field. On the other hand, many parameters also create many windows of opportunity for further optimizing plasma-catalytic systems. Finally, various experiments also reveal the lack of improvement in plasma catalysis compared to plasma-only, specifically for DRM, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, we present our newly developed coupled plasma-surface kinetics model for DRM, to provide more insight in the underlying reasons. Our model illustrates that transition metal catalysts can adversely affect plasmacatalytic DRM, if radicals dominate the plasma-catalyst interactions. Thus, we demonstrate that a good understanding of the plasma-catalyst interactions is crucial to avoiding conditions at which these interactions negatively affect the results, and we provide some recommendations for improvement. For instance, we believe that plasma-catalytic DRM may benefit more from higher reaction temperatures, at which vibrational excitation can enhance the surface reactions.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos Publication Date 2023-06-30  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2095-4956 ISBN Additional Links UA library record  
  Impact Factor 13.1 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes This research was supported by the FWO-SBO project PlasMa- CatDESIGN (FWO grant ID S001619N), the FWO fellowship of R. Michiels (FWO grant ID 1114921N), and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project). The computational resources and services used in this work were provided by the HPC core facility CalcUA of the Universiteit Antwerpen, and VSC (Flemish Supercomputer Center), funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Government. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.1; 2023 IF: 2.594  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:198159 Serial 8806  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Wanten, B.; Vertongen, R.; De Meyer, R.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-based CO2 conversion: How to correctly analyze the performance? Type A1 journal article
  Year 2023 Publication Journal of Energy Chemistry Abbreviated Journal Journal of Energy Chemistry  
  Volume 86 Issue Pages 180-196  
  Keywords A1 journal article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001070885000001 Publication Date 2023-07-22  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2095-4956 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.1 Times cited Open Access Not_Open_Access  
  Notes We acknowledge financial support from the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) Flanders (Grant ID 110221N), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and the Methusalem funding of the University of Antwerp. We acknowledge the icons from the graphical abstract made by dDara, geotatah, Spashicons and Freepik on www.flaticon.com. We also thank Stein Maerivoet, Joachim Slaets, Elizabeth Mercer, Colín Ó’Modráin, Joran Van Turnhout, Pepijn Heirman, dr. Yury Gorbanev, dr. Fanny Girard-Sahun and dr. Sean Kelly for the interesting discussions and feedback. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.1; 2023 IF: 2.594  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:198709 Serial 8816  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Vanraes, P.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma physics of liquids—A focused review Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2018 Publication Applied physics reviews Abbreviated Journal Appl Phys Rev  
  Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 031103  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The interaction of plasma with liquids has led to various established industrial implementations as well as promising applications, including high-voltage switching, chemical analysis, nanomaterial synthesis, and plasma medicine. Along with these numerous accomplishments, the physics of plasma in liquid or in contact with a liquid surface has emerged as a bipartite research field, for which we introduce here the term “plasma physics of liquids.” Despite the intensive research

investments during the recent decennia, this field is plagued by some controversies and gaps in knowledge, which might restrict further progress. The main difficulties in understanding revolve around the basic mechanisms of plasma initiation in the liquid phase and the electrical interactions at a plasma-liquid interface, which require an interdisciplinary approach. This review aims to provide the wide applied physics community with a general overview of the field, as well as the opportunities for interdisciplinary research on topics, such as nanobubbles and the floating water bridge, and involving the research domains of amorphous semiconductors, solid state physics, thermodynamics, material science, analytical chemistry, electrochemistry, and molecular dynamics simulations. In addition, we provoke awareness of experts in the field on yet underappreciated question marks. Accordingly, a strategy for future experimental and simulation work is proposed.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000446117000003 Publication Date 2018-07-25  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1931-9401 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.667 Times cited 33 Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes P. Vanraes acknowledges funding by a University of Antwerp BOF grant. The authors express their gratitude to Professor Dr. Peter Bruggeman (University of Minnesota, USA) for very useful comments on a draft of Sec. III C. P. Vanraes is very grateful to Professor Dr. Lars Pettersson (Stockholm University, Sweden) for the interesting discussions on the microscopic structure of water, to Dr. Xiaolong Deng (National University of Defense Technology, China) for his help with the figures, to Dr. Anton Nikiforov (Ghent University, Belgium) for the help with retrieving the relevant chapter of Ref. 319, and to Dr. Tatiana Nikitenko (Vitebst State Masherov University, Belarus), Katja Nygard (Netherlands), Iryna Kuchakova (Ghent University, Belgium), and Mindaugas Kersys (Lithuania) for their tremendous help with the translation of the corresponding chapter. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.667  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:152823 Serial 5001  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Vanraes, P.; Parayil Venugopalan, S.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Multiscale modeling of plasma–surface interaction—General picture and a case study of Si and SiO2etching by fluorocarbon-based plasmas Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2021 Publication Applied Physics Reviews Abbreviated Journal Appl Phys Rev  
  Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 041305  
  Keywords A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;  
  Abstract The physics and chemistry of plasma–surface interaction is a broad domain relevant to various applications and several natural processes, including plasma etching for microelectronics fabrication, plasma deposition, surface functionalization, nanomaterial synthesis, fusion reactors, and some astrophysical and meteorological phenomena. Due to their complex nature, each of these processes is generally investigated in separate subdomains, which are considered to have their own theoretical, modeling, and experimental challenges. In this review, however, we want to emphasize the overarching nature of plasma–surface interaction physics and chemistry, by focusing on the general strategy for its computational simulation. In the first half of the review, we provide a menu card with standard and less standardized computational methods to be used for the multiscale modeling of the underlying processes. In the second half, we illustrate the benefits and potential of the multiscale modeling strategy with a case study of Si and SiO2 etching by fluorocarbon plasmas and identify the gaps in knowledge still present on this intensely investigated plasma–material combination, both on a qualitative and quantitative level. Remarkably, the dominant etching mechanisms remain the least understood. The resulting new insights are of general relevance, for all plasmas and materials, including their various applications. We therefore hope to motivate computational and experimental scientists and engineers to collaborate more intensely on filling the existing gaps in knowledge. In this way, we expect that research will overcome a bottleneck stage in the development and optimization of multiscale models, and thus the fundamental understanding of plasma–surface interaction.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000754799700001 Publication Date 2021-10-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1931-9401 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.667 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Asml; P. Vanraes acknowledges funding by ASML for the project “Computational simulation of plasma etching of trench structures.” P. Vanraes wishes to thank Violeta Georgieva and Stefan Tinck for the fruitful discussions on the HPEM code, Yu-Ru Zhang for an example of the CCP reactor code, and Karel Venken for his technical help with the server maintenance and use. P. Vanraes and A. Bogaerts want to express their gratitude to Mark J. Kushner (University of Michigan) for the sharing of the HPEM and MCFPM codes and for the interesting exchange of views. S. P. Venugopalan wishes to thank Sander Wuister, Coen Verschuren, Michael Kubis, Mohammad Kamali, Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.667  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:183287 Serial 6814  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Neyts, E.C.; van Duin, A.C.T.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  doi
openurl 
  Title Changing chirality during single-walled carbon nanotube growth : a reactive molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo study Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2011 Publication Journal of the American Chemical Society Abbreviated Journal J Am Chem Soc  
  Volume 133 Issue 43 Pages 17225-17231  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The growth mechanism and chirality formation of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) on a surface-bound nickel nanocluster are investigated by hybrid reactive molecular dynamics/force-biased Monte Carlo simulations. The validity of the interatomic potential used, the so-called ReaxFF potential, for simulating catalytic SWNT growth is demonstrated. The SWNT growth process was found to be in agreement with previous studies and observed to proceed through a number of distinct steps, viz., the dissolution of carbon in the metallic particle, the surface segregation of carbon with the formation of aggregated carbon clusters on the surface, the formation of graphitic islands that grow into SWNT caps, and finally continued growth of the SWNT. Moreover, it is clearly illustrated in the present study that during the growth process, the carbon network is continuously restructured by a metal-mediated process, thereby healing many topological defects. It is also found that a cap can nucleate and disappear again, which was not observed in previous simulations. Encapsulation of the nanoparticle is observed to be prevented by the carbon network migrating as a whole over the cluster surface. Finally, for the first time, the chirality of the growing SWNT cap is observed to change from (11,0) over (9,3) to (7,7). It is demonstrated that this change in chirality is due to the metal-mediated restructuring process.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Washington, D.C. Editor  
  Language Wos 000297380900026 Publication Date 2011-10-06  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0002-7863;1520-5126; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.858 Times cited 116 Open Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.858; 2011 IF: 9.907  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:92043 Serial 309  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Neyts, E.C.; van Duin, A.C.T.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  doi
openurl 
  Title Insights in the plasma-assisted growth of carbon nanotubes through atomic scale simulations : effect of electric field Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2012 Publication Journal of the American Chemical Society Abbreviated Journal J Am Chem Soc  
  Volume 134 Issue 2 Pages 1256-1260  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are nowadays routinely grown in a thermal CVD setup. State-of-the-art plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) growth, however, offers advantages over thermal CVD. A lower growth temperature and the growth of aligned freestanding single-walled CNTs (SWNTs) makes the technique very attractive. The atomic scale growth mechanisms of PECVD CNT growth, however, remain currently entirely unexplored. In this contribution, we employed molecular dynamics simulations to focus on the effect of applying an electric field on the SWNT growth process, as one of the effects coming into play in PECVD. Using sufficiently strong fields results in (a) alignment of the growing SWNTs, (b) a better ordering of the carbon network, and (c) a higher growth rate relative to thermal growth rate. We suggest that these effects are due to the small charge transfer occurring in the Ni/C system. These simulations constitute the first study of PECVD growth of SWNTs on the atomic level.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Washington, D.C. Editor  
  Language Wos 000301084300086 Publication Date 2011-11-30  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0002-7863;1520-5126; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.858 Times cited 56 Open Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.858; 2012 IF: 10.677  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:97163 Serial 1673  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Neyts, E.C.; Shibuta, Y.; van Duin, A.C.T.; Bogaerts, A. doi  openurl
  Title Catalyzed growth of carbon nanotube with definable chirality by hybrid molecular dynamics-force biased Monte Carlo simulations Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2010 Publication ACS nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume 4 Issue 11 Pages 6665-6672  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Metal-catalyzed growth mechanisms of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were studied by hybrid molecular dynamics−Monte Carlo simulations using a recently developed ReaxFF reactive force field. Using this novel approach, including relaxation effects, a CNT with definable chirality is obtained, and a step-by-step atomistic description of the nucleation process is presented. Both root and tip growth mechanisms are observed. The importance of the relaxation of the network is highlighted by the observed healing of defects.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000284438000043 Publication Date 2010-10-12  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1936-0851;1936-086X; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.942 Times cited 129 Open Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.942; 2010 IF: 9.865  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:84759 Serial 294  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Xu, X.; Vereecke, G.; Chen, C.; Pourtois, G.; Armini, S.; Verellen, N.; Tsai, W.K.; Kim, D.W.; Lee, E.; Lin, C.Y.; Van Dorpe, P.; Struyf, H.; Holsteyns, F.; Moshchalkov, V.; Indekeu, J.; De Gendt, S.; doi  openurl
  Title Capturing wetting states in nanopatterned silicon Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2014 Publication ACS nano Abbreviated Journal Acs Nano  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 885-893  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Spectacular progress in developing advanced Si circuits with reduced size, along the track of Moore's law, has been relying on necessary developments in wet cleaning of nanopatterned Si wafers to provide contaminant free surfaces. The most efficient cleaning is achieved when complete wetting can be realized. In this work, ordered arrays of silicon nanopillars on a hitherto unexplored small scale have been used to study the wetting behavior on nanomodulated surfaces in a substantial range of surface treatments and geometrical parameters. With the use of optical reflectance measurements, the nanoscale water imbibition depths have been measured and the transition to the superhydrophobic Cassie-Baxter state has been accurately determined. For pillars of high aspect ratio (about 15), the transition occurs even when the surface is grafted with a hydrophilic functional group. We have found a striking consistent deviation between the contact angle measurements and the straightforward application of the classical wetting models. Molecular dynamics simulations show that these deviations can be attributed to the long overlooked atomic-scale surface perturbations that are introduced during the nanofabrication process. When the transition condition is approached, transient states of partial imbibition that characterize intermediate states between the Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter states are revealed in our experiments.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000330542900092 Publication Date 2013-12-31  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1936-0851;1936-086X; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 13.942 Times cited 39 Open Access  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 13.942; 2014 IF: 12.881  
  Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:114871 Serial 276  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Girard-Sahun, F.; Biondo, O.; Trenchev, G.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Carbon bed post-plasma to enhance the CO2 conversion and remove O2 from the product stream Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 442 Issue Pages 136268  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract CO2 conversion by plasma technology is gaining increasing interest. We present a carbon (charcoal) bed placed after a Gliding Arc Plasmatron (GAP) reactor, to enhance the CO2 conversion, promote O/O2 removal and in­ crease the CO fraction in the exhaust mixture. By means of an innovative (silo) system, the carbon is constantly supplied, to avoid carbon depletion upon reaction with O/O2. Using this carbon bed, the CO2 conversion is enhanced by almost a factor of two (from 7.6 to 12.6%), while the CO concentration even increases by a factor of three (from 7.2 to 21.9%), and O2 is completely removed from the exhaust mixture. Moreover, the energy ef­ ficiency of the conversion process drastically increases from 27.9 to 45.4%, and the energy cost significantly drops from 41.9 to 25.4 kJ.L− 1. We also present the temperature as a function of distance from the reactor outlet, as well as the CO2, CO and O2 concentrations and the temperature in the carbon bed as a function of time, which is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms. Indeed, these time-resolved measurements reveal that the initial enhancements in CO2 conversion and in CO concentration are not maintained in our current setup. Therefore, we present a model to study the gasification of carbon with different feed gases (i.e., O2, CO and CO2 separately), from which we can conclude that the oxygen coverage at the surface plays a key role in determining the product composition and the rate of carbon consumption. Indeed, our model insights indicate that the drop in CO2 conversion and in CO concentration after a few minutes is attributed to deactivation of the carbon bed, due to rapid formation of oxygen complexes at the surface.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000797716700002 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; European Research Council; This research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Inno­vation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813393 (PIONEER). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188286 Serial 7052  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Girard-Sahun, F.; Biondo, O.; Trenchev, G.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Carbon bed post-plasma to enhance the CO2 conversion and remove O2 from the product stream Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 442 Issue Pages 136268  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract CO2 conversion by plasma technology is gaining increasing interest. We present a carbon (charcoal) bed placed after a Gliding Arc Plasmatron (GAP) reactor, to enhance the CO2 conversion, promote O/O2 removal and in­ crease the CO fraction in the exhaust mixture. By means of an innovative (silo) system, the carbon is constantly supplied, to avoid carbon depletion upon reaction with O/O2. Using this carbon bed, the CO2 conversion is enhanced by almost a factor of two (from 7.6 to 12.6%), while the CO concentration even increases by a factor of three (from 7.2 to 21.9%), and O2 is completely removed from the exhaust mixture. Moreover, the energy ef­ ficiency of the conversion process drastically increases from 27.9 to 45.4%, and the energy cost significantly drops from 41.9 to 25.4 kJ.L− 1. We also present the temperature as a function of distance from the reactor outlet, as well as the CO2, CO and O2 concentrations and the temperature in the carbon bed as a function of time, which is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms. Indeed, these time-resolved measurements reveal that the initial enhancements in CO2 conversion and in CO concentration are not maintained in our current setup. Therefore, we present a model to study the gasification of carbon with different feed gases (i.e., O2, CO and CO2 separately), from which we can conclude that the oxygen coverage at the surface plays a key role in determining the product composition and the rate of carbon consumption. Indeed, our model insights indicate that the drop in CO2 conversion and in CO concentration after a few minutes is attributed to deactivation of the carbon bed, due to rapid formation of oxygen complexes at the surface.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000797716700002 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions; European Research Council; This research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Inno­vation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813393 (PIONEER). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Govern­ment (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. We also thank R. De Meyer, K. Leyssens and S. Defossé for performing the charcoal characterizations. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188286 Serial 7053  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Van Alphen, S.; Ahmadi Eshtehardi, H.; O'Modhrain, C.; Bogaerts, J.; Van Poyer, H.; Creel, J.; Delplancke, M.-P.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Effusion nozzle for energy-efficient NOx production in a rotating gliding arc plasma reactor Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 443 Issue Pages 136529  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma-based NOx production is of interest for sustainable N2 fixation, but more research is needed to improve its performance. One of the current limitations is recombination of NO back into N2 and O2 molecules immediately after the plasma reactor. Therefore, we developed a novel so-called “effusion nozzle”, to improve the perfor­mance of a rotating gliding arc plasma reactor for NOx production, but the same principle can also be applied to other plasma types. Experiments in a wide range of applied power, gas flow rates and N2/O2 ratios demonstrate an enhancement in NOx concentration by about 8%, and a reduction in energy cost by 22.5%. In absolute terms, we obtain NOx concentrations up to 5.9%, at an energy cost down to 2.1 MJ/mol, which are the best values reported to date in literature. In addition, we developed four complementary models to describe the gas flow, plasma temperature and plasma chemistry, aiming to reveal why the effusion nozzle yields better performance. Our simulations reveal that the effusion nozzle acts as very efficient heat sink, causing a fast drop in gas tem­perature when the gas molecules leave the plasma, hence limiting the recombination of NO back into N2 and O2. This yields an overall higher NOx concentration than without the effusion nozzle. This immediate quenching right at the end of the plasma makes our effusion nozzle superior to more conventional cooling options, like water cooling In addition, this higher NOx concentration can be obtained at a slightly lower power, because the effusion nozzle allows for the ignition and sustainment of the plasma at somewhat lower power. Hence, this also explains the lower energy cost. Overall, our experimental results and detailed modeling analysis will be useful to improve plasma-based NOx production in other plasma reactors as well.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000800010600003 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and through long-term structural funding (Methusalem). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (depart­ment EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188283 Serial 7057  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Wang, Y.; Chen, Y.; Harding, J.; He, H.; Bogaerts, A.; Tu, X. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Catalyst-free single-step plasma reforming of CH4 and CO2 to higher value oxygenates under ambient conditions Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2022 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 450 Issue Pages 137860  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Direct conversion of CH4 and CO2 to liquid fuels and chemicals under mild conditions is appealing for biogas conversion and utilization but challenging due to the inert nature of both gases. Herein, we report a promising plasma process for the catalyst-free single-step conversion of CH4 and CO2 into higher value oxygenates (i.e., methanol, acetic acid, ethanol, and acetone) at ambient pressure and room temperature using a water-cooled dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor, with methanol being the main liquid product. The distribution of liquid products could be tailored by tuning the discharge power, reaction temperature and residence time. Lower discharge powers (10–15 W) and reaction temperatures (5–20 ◦ C) were favourable for the production of liquid products, achieving the highest methanol selectivity of 43% at 5 ◦ C and 15 W. A higher discharge power and reaction temperature, on the other hand, produced more gaseous products, particularly H2 (up to 26% selec­tivity) and CO (up to 33% selectivity). In addition, varying these process parameters (discharge power, reaction temperature and residence time) resulted in a simultaneous change in key discharge properties, such as mean electron energy (Ee), electron density (ne) and specific energy input (SEI), all of which are essential determiners of plasma chemical reactions. According to the results of artificial neural network (ANN) models, the relative importance of these process parameters and key discharge indicators on reaction performance follows the order: discharge power > reaction temperature > residence time, and SEI > ne > Ee, respectively. This work provides new insights into the contributions and tuning mechanism of multiple parameters for optimizing the reaction performance (e.g., liquid production) in the plasma gas conversion process.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000830813300004 Publication Date 0000-00-00  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie SklodowskaCurie grant agreement No. 813393. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:189502 Serial 7100  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Zhou, R.; Zhou, R.; Xian, Y.; Fang, Z.; Lu, X.; Bazaka, K.; Bogaerts, A.; Ostrikov, K.(K.) pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-enabled catalyst-free conversion of ethanol to hydrogen gas and carbon dots near room temperature Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 382 Issue 382 Pages 122745  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Selective conversion of bio-renewable ethanol under mild conditions especially at room temperature remains a major challenge for sustainable production of hydrogen and valuable carbon-based materials. In this study, adaptive non-thermal plasma is applied to deliver pulsed energy to rapidly and selectively reform ethanol in the absence of a catalyst. Importantly, the carbon atoms in ethanol that would otherwise be released into the environment in the form of CO or CO2 are effectively captured in the form of carbon dots (CDs). Three modes of non-thermal spark plasma discharges, i.e. single spark mode (SSM), multiple spark mode (MSM) and gliding spark mode (GSM), provide additional flexibility in ethanol reforming by controlling the processes of energy transfer and distribution, thereby affecting the flow rate, gas content, and energy consumption in H-2 production. A favourable combination of low temperature (< 40 degrees C), attractive conversion rate (gas flow rate of similar to 120 mL/min), high hydrogen yield (H-2 content > 90%), low energy consumption (similar to 0.96 kWh/m(3) H-2) and the effective generation of photoluminescent CDs (which are applicable for bioimaging or biolabelling) in the MSM indicate that the proposed strategy may offer a new carbon-negative avenue for comprehensive utilization of alcohols and mitigating the increasingly severe energy and environmental issues.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000503381200200 Publication Date 2019-09-07  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947; 1873-3212 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited 20 Open Access  
  Notes ; ; Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2020 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:165648 Serial 6318  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Andersen, Ja.; Christensen, Jm.; Østberg, M.; Bogaerts, A.; Jensen, Ad. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Plasma-catalytic dry reforming of methane: Screening of catalytic materials in a coaxial packed-bed DBD reactor Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2020 Publication Chemical Engineering Journal Abbreviated Journal Chem Eng J  
  Volume 397 Issue Pages 125519  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The combination of catalysis with non-thermal plasma is a promising alternative to thermal catalysis. A dielectric-barrier discharge reactor was used to study plasma-catalytic dry reforming of methane at ambient pressure and temperature and a fixed plasma power of 45 W. The effect of different catalytic packing materials was evaluated in terms of conversion, product selectivity, and energy efficiency. The conversion of CO2 (~22%) and CH4 (~33%) were found to be similar in plasma-only and when introducing packing materials in plasma. The main reason is the shorter residence time of the gas due to packing geometry, when compared at identical flow rates. H2, CO, C2-C4 hydrocarbons, and oxygenates were identified in the product gas. High selectivity towards H2 and CO were found for all catalysts and plasma-only, with a H2/CO molar ratio of ~0.9. The lowest syngas selectivity was obtained with Cu/Al2O3 (~66%), which instead, had the highest alcohol selectivity (~3.6%).  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000542296100011 Publication Date 2020-05-17  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access  
  Notes Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark; We thank Haldor Topsoe A/S for providing all the catalytic materials used and the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, for funding this project. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2020 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:170613 Serial 6406  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Wang, J.; Zhang, K.; Bogaerts, A.; Meynen, V. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title 3D porous catalysts for plasma-catalytic dry reforming of methane : how does the pore size affect the plasma-catalytic performance? Type A1 Journal article
  Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 464 Issue Pages 142574-12  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA); Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract The effect of pore size on plasma catalysis is crucial but still unclear. Studies have shown plasma cannot enter micropores and mesopores, so catalysts for traditional thermocatalysis may not fit plasma catalysis. Here, 3D porous Cu and CuO with different pore sizes were prepared using uniform silica particles (10–2000 nm) as templates, and compared in plasma-catalytic dry reforming. In most cases, the smaller the pore size, the higher the conversion of CH4 and CO2. Large pores reachable by more electrons did not improve the reaction efficiency. We attribute this to the small surface area and large crystallite size, as indicated by N2-sorption, mercury intrusion and XRD. While the smaller pores might not be reachable by electrons, due to the sheath formed in front of them, as predicted by modeling, they can still be reached by radicals formed in the plasma, and ions can even be attracted into these pores. An exception are the samples synthesized from 1 μm silica, which show better performance. We believe this is due to the electric field enhancement for pore sizes close to the Debye length. The performances of CuO and Cu with different pore sizes can provide references for future research on oxide supports and metal components of plasma catalysts.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000966076400001 Publication Date 2023-03-21  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947; 1873-3212 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:194862 Serial 7262  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Andersen, Ja.; Holm, Mc.; van 't Veer, K.; Christensen, Jm.; Østberg, M.; Bogaerts, A.; Jensen, Ad. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor: A combined experimental study and kinetic modeling Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 457 Issue Pages 141294  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor has emerged as a possible route for electrification of nitrogen fixation. In this study, we use a combination of experiments and a plasma kinetic model to investigate the ammonia synthesis from N2 and H2, both with and without a solid packing material in the plasma zone. The effect of plasma power, feed flow rate, N2:H2 feed ratio, gas residence time, temperature, and packing material (MgAl2O4 alone or impregnated with Co or Ru) on the ammonia synthesis rate were examined in the experiments. The kinetic model was employed to improve our understanding of the ammonia formation pathways and identify possible changes in these pathways when altering the N2:H2 feed ratio. A higher NH3 synthesis rate was achieved when increasing the feed flow rate, as well as when increasing the gas tem-perature from 100 to 200 ◦C when a packing material was present in the plasma. At the elevated temperature of 200 ◦C, an optimum in the NH3 synthesis rate was observed at an equimolar feed ratio (N2:H2 =1:1) for the plasma alone and MgAl2O4, while a N2-rich feed was favored for Ru/MgAl2O4 and Co/MgAl2O4. The optimum in the synthesis rate with the N2-rich feed, where high energy electrons are more likely to collide with N2, suggests that the rate-limiting step is the dissociation of N2 in the gas phase. This is supported by the kinetic model when packing material was used. However, for the plasma alone, the model found that the N2 dissociation is only rate limiting in H2-rich feeds, whereas the limited access to H in N2-rich feeds makes the hydrogenation of N species limiting.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 001058978000001 Publication Date 2023-01-05  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We thank Topsoe A/S for providing the catalytic materials used in the study, the research group PLASMANT (University of Antwerp) for sharing their plasma kinetic model and allocating time on their cluster for the calculations, and the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (Technical University of Denmark) for funding the project. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195877 Serial 7234  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Morais, E.; Delikonstantis, E.; Scapinello, M.; Smith, G.; Stefanidis, G.D.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Methane coupling in nanosecond pulsed plasmas: Correlation between temperature and pressure and effects on product selectivity Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 462 Issue Pages 142227  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract We present a zero-dimensional kinetic model to characterise specifically the gas-phase dynamics of methane

conversion in a nanosecond pulsed discharge (NPD) plasma reactor. The model includes a systematic approach to

capture the nanoscale power discharges and the rapid ensuing changes in electric field, gas and electron temperature,

as well as species densities. The effects of gas temperature and reactor pressure on gas conversion and

product selectivity are extensively investigated and validated against experimental work. We discuss the

important reaction pathways and provide an analysis of the dynamics of the heating and cooling mechanisms. H

radicals are found to be the most populous plasma species and they participate in hydrogenation and dehydrogenation

reactions, which are the dominant recombination reactions leading to C2H4 and C2H2 as main

products (depending on the pressure).
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000983631500001 Publication Date 2023-03-02  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the Flemish Government through the Moonshot cSBO project “Power-to-Olefins” (P2O; HBC.2020.2620). Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195881 Serial 7246  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Van Alphen, S.; Hecimovic, A.; Kiefer, C.K.; Fantz, U.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Modelling post-plasma quenching nozzles for improving the performance of CO2 microwave plasmas Type A1 Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Chemical engineering journal Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 462 Issue Pages 142217  
  Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)  
  Abstract Given the ecological problems associated to the CO2 emissions of fossil fuels, plasma technology has gained

interest for conversion of CO2 into value-added products. Microwave plasmas operating at atmospheric pressure

have proven to be especially interesting, due to the high gas temperatures inside the reactor (i.e. up to 6000 K)

allowing for efficient thermal dissociation of CO2 into CO and O2. However, the performance of these high

temperature plasmas is limited by recombination of CO back into CO2 once the gas cools down in the afterglow.

In this work, we computationally investigated several quenching nozzles, developed and experimentally tested

by Hecimovic et al., [1] for their ability to quickly cool the gas after the plasma, thereby quenching the CO

recombination reactions. Using a 3D computational fluid dynamics model and a quasi-1D chemical kinetics

model, we reveal that a reactor without nozzle lacks gas mixing between hot gas in the center and cold gas near

the reactor walls. Especially at low flow rates, where there is an inherent lack of convective cooling due to the

low gas flow velocity, the temperature in the afterglow remains high (between 2000 and 3000 K) for a relatively

long time (in the 0.1 s range). As shown by our quasi-1D chemical kinetics model, this results in a important loss

of CO due to recombination reactions. Attaching a nozzle in the effluent of the reactor induces fast gas quenching

right after the plasma. Indeed, it introduces (i) more convective cooling by forcing cool gas near the walls to mix

with hot gas in the center of the reactor, as well as (ii) more conductive cooling through the water-cooled walls of

the nozzle. Our model shows that gas quenching and the suppression of recombination reactions have more

impact at low flow rates, where recombination is the most limiting factor in the conversion process.
 
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Wos 000962382600001 Publication Date 2023-03-03  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1385-8947 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles  
  Impact Factor 15.1 Times cited Open Access OpenAccess  
  Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and through long-term structural funding (Methusalem). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved (up) Most recent IF: 15.1; 2023 IF: 6.216  
  Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:195889 Serial 7250  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print

Save Citations:
Export Records: