Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Magnetic resonance equipment for advanced materials research: molecular characterization of solid, soft, homogeneous and heterogeneous matter in the development of advanced functional materials and chemical catalysis" "José Martins" "Department of Solid State Sciences, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Department of Pharmaceutics, Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Department of Chemistry" "Voor het ontwerpen van nieuwe materialen via chemische synthese is de karakterisering ervan tot op moleculair niveau van cruciaal belang voor hun praktische ontwikkeling en uiteindelijk hun valorisatie in nieuwe toepassingen. De 22 leden van dit consortium zijn allen betrokken in de ontwikkelen van nieuwe materialen hetzij in vaste of zachte toestand, homogeen dan wel heterogeen van aard, in de context van onderzoeksgebieden die zich uitstrekken van organische en farmaceutische chemie tot de ontwikkeling van textielvezels en nieuwe katalysatoren voor de CO2-neutrale economie. Op het eerste gezicht beschikt de UGent reeds over een indrukwekkende verzameling instrumenten voor materiaalkarakterisering, maar een cruciale ontbreekt: een nucleaire magnetische resonantie (NMR) spectrometer uitgerust om deze vaak onoplosbare materialen te onderzoeken. Dit toestel, vergelijkbaar met MRI scanners in ziekenhuizen, is van cruciaal belang voor de verdere ontwikkeling van geavanceerde en functionele materialen binnen het consortium, waarbij ook onderzoeksgroepen van partneruniversiteiten betrokken zijn. Efficiënt gebruik in een grote verscheidenheid aan onderzoeksprogramma's zal worden bereikt door de apparatuur in te bedden in het NMR-expertisecentrum van de UGent, opgericht in 2018 met de steun van de Onderzoeksraad van de UGent om alle moleculaire karakterisatiebehoeften in het chemisch onderzoek aan te pakken met behulp van deze krachtige techniek met hoge investeringskost." "FLAMINCO - Co-extrusion ans lamination equipment for intergration of functional components in advances multilayer materials" "Ludwig Cardon" "Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering" "Multilayer polymer-based materials are widely used in a broad variety of fields as they combine a good processability with having multifunctional properties. This results in a wide range of materials each with specific mechanical and physico-chemical properties. Research is thereby focussing on increasing the added value by integrating intelligent or bio-active components in these materials." "Atom Probe Tomography for advanced materials studies in 3D - LEAP 4000X Si Atomprobe" "Materials Physics, Laboratory of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry" "Advanced materials research has a vast impact on our society by introducing new complex materials possessing novel functionalities relevant to divers fields of applications. Contemporary innovation in these fields originates primarily from obtaining control of the material properties at the (sub) nanometric level, allowing for dimension reduction, introducing functional interfaces or 3-dimensional nanostructures or incorporation of additives at specific (lattice) sites. This evolution in complexity in advanced materials research is inextricably linked to a parallel evolution in metrology technology. Atom probe tomography (APT) has received a vast amount of attention lately because of its fascinating capabilities for composition analysis in materials research. Basically, APT provides a full 3 dimensional analysis of materials, yielding exact quantitative data on the composition combined with an excellent mass resolution and a near-atomic spatial resolution. Moreover, due to major advances in laser assisted APT (achieved in the past recent years), this technology can now be applied in a large variety of complex materials, ranging from conducting, semiconducting to insulating materials or combined hetero structures of those. Advanced materials research constitutes an essential part of our Flemish research characterized by an increased focus on nanostructured 3D-material systems, obviously requiring access to 3D-metrology. Whereas in the past APT was highly specialized and limited to a few experts, APT metrology recently became a well-established, commercially available and user friendly concept. This consortium fosters the ambition to create an atomprobe user facility at the disposal for the Flemish research institutes. Being able to assess fully quantitative data in 3 dimensions on the atomic composition of complex structures, such an APT user facility is expected to exert a major impact on the current research programs and allow to retain and further enhance our competitiveness on an international level. This will also allow to develop new ambitious research projects due to the access to data unattainable before." "Chemical Looping: Innovative Materials and Advanced Technologies (CLIMAT)" "Vladimir Galvita" "Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering" "Chemical looping processes are increasingly gaining interest in view of their potential role in the transition towards a carbon-circular economy. Compared to their conventional counterparts, chemical looping processes provide a means for process intensification through process step optimization and inherent product separation, thereby decreasing the need of downstream separation. A major challenge in chemical looping lies in the achievement of a sufficiently high reactor productivity, as functional looping materials are cycled between different states. The aim of this project is to improve the productivity of advanced chemical looping processes, which will be pursued through the execution of three work packages: 1) Rational design of multi-functional looping materials, 2) kinetic experiments and modelling, 3) multi-scale reactor model development and validation. Super-dry reforming of methane, a process for enhanced CO2 and CH4 conversion into CO invented at the LCT, will be used as a case study to develop a model-aided framework for the optimization of advanced chemical looping processes." "Advanced solid state NMR methods for dealing with paramagnetism and short range disorder in catalytic materials." "Dirk De Vos" "Membrane Separations, Adsorption, Catalysis, and Spectroscopy for Sustainable Solutions (cMACS), Kemijski inštitut" "NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools for structural and functional analyses of materials, especially if supported by quantum-chemical computations and modelling. Here we shall extend the applicability of solid state NMR to paramagnetic catalysts and to heterogeneous, disordered catalysts. Using a set of Cu-containing MOFs as test cases, we shall optimize NMR measurements and first-principles calculations of paramagnetically-induced NMR shifts, thus outlining an approach for reliable assignment of the NMR signals in such paramagnetic samples. Using our approach, we will study Cu-catalyzed dehydrogenative cross-coupling of alkynes and arenes in a porous Cu catalyst. Combined NMR and quantum-chemical calculations will identify the reaction intermediates and elucidate the formation of arylalkynes. In the second part, the distribution of catalytic sites in MOFs and zeolites will be inspected by the spin-diffusion-based NMR approach. In the UiO-66 MOF, the catalytic sites will be missing linker defects, whereas in zeolites they will be Brønsted and Lewis acid sites. The missing linker defects and the Lewis sites will be decorated with organic probes, and a combined NMR/modelling approach will be used to inspect the proximity between these probes in the MOFs, or between the probe molecules and the Brønsted sites in zeolites. The gained information about the distribution of active sites will be of paramount importance for the design of new catalysts. " "An efficient hybrid laser-electrochemical machining process for advanced materials" "Dominiek Reynaerts" "Manufacturing Processes and Systems (MaPS)" "The introduction of new alloys with extreme properties along with a growing industrial demand towards fabrication of high aspect ratio meso/micro-dimensional features and micro-holes requires a substantial improvement of the process capabilities of existing micromachining processes. Further challenges are the requirements on high surface finish, high accuracy/tight tolerances and specific microstructures of the product. The idea behind hybrid micromachining is to combine different machining processes/material removal mechanisms to enhance the capability/performance of manufacturing these features with tighter specs while still reaching economic feasibility.This project will conduct in-depth research into the fundamentals of material removal in a new hybrid laser-electrochemical micromachining process by developing innovative solutions for the core components, such as tool electrodes and laser optics, in order to improve the performance of the hybrid process. Furthermore advanced process monitoring techniques will be developed to study the fundamentals in material removal, whereby to increase the process efficiency and accuracy. The holistic approach in this project requires a broad range of expertise in combining, optical, electrochemical, thermal and CFD simulation techniques. The result will be an innovative and productive manufacturing technology for high-end components such as medical implants, high-temperature applications, or super-lubricated surfaces." "Advanced solid state NMR methods for dealing with paramagnetism and short range disorder in catalytic materials" "Dirk De Vos" "Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis" "NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools for structural and functional analyses of materials, especially if supported by quantum-chemical computations and modelling. Here we shall extend the applicability of solid state NMR to paramagnetic catalysts and to heterogeneous, disordered catalysts. Using a set of Cu-containing MOFs as test cases, we shall optimize NMR measurements and first-principles calculations of paramagnetically-induced NMR shifts, thus outlining an approach for reliable assignment of the NMR signals in such paramagnetic samples. Using our approach, we will study Cu-catalyzed dehydrogenative cross-coupling of alkynes and arenes in a porous Cu catalyst. Combined NMR and quantum-chemical calculations will identify the reaction intermediates and elucidate the formation of arylalkynes. In the second part, the distribution of catalytic sites in MOFs and zeolites will be inspected by the spin-diffusion-based NMR approach. In the UiO-66 MOF, the catalytic sites will be missing linker defects, whereas in zeolites they will be Brønsted and Lewis acid sites. The missing linker defects and the Lewis sites will be decorated with organic probes, and a combined NMR/modelling approach will be used to inspect the proximity between these probes in the MOFs, or between the probe molecules and the Brønsted sites in zeolites. The gained information about the distribution of active sites will be of paramount importance for the design of new catalysts." "Novel methods and 4D-XCT tools for in situ characterisation of materials and their microstructural changes during functional testing." "Jan Sijbers" "Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Catholic University of Louvain, Vision lab" "Fibrous materials are found in biology (e.g. skin, muscle, tendon, ...), but also in industry in the form of composite materials in critical components of the aerospace, automotive and building applications. Not surprisingly, there is a great demand, both clinical and industrial, for an in-depth understanding of the microstructural response of these fibrous materials to external loading parameters defining their elasticity, strength and structural integrity. In this project, a novel experimental 4D characterization toolbox based on X-ray computed tomography (XCT) will be developed, including non-invasive contrast agents and dedicated in situ measurement devices, along with advanced 4D image reconstruction and analysis methods and computational models. Two representative case studies will demonstrate the general applicability of our approach: 3D printed fibre reinforced composites and biological tissues. The proposed 4D characterization approach will allow us to gain crucial insight into the microstructural changes that occur during dynamic functional testing of both types of fibrous materials. In turn, the improved knowledge of the dynamic material behaviour can pave the way towards optimized design and production of novel 3D printed composite materials and towards a more intelligent design of next-generation solutions for tissue restoration and regeneration. The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from three Belgian universities, and will facilitate the translation of the developed 4D characterization toolbox, as well as the individual methodologies, towards industry, hospitals and research centers." "Novel methods and 4D-XCT tools for in situ characterisation of materials and their microstructural changes during functional testing" "Martine Wevers" "Structural Composites and Alloys, Integrity and Nondestructive Testing (SCALINT)" "The overall goal of the project is the realization of an integrated 4D X-ray Computer Tomography (4DXCT) toolbox for the in situ mechanical testing and analysis of fibrous materials. Two representative sample studies of fibrous materials, whose mechanical behavior and damage development are still insufficiently understood, will demonstrate the general applicability of our approach: 3D printed composite materials (3DPCM) and biological tissues (more specifically skin tissue and the bone-tendon interphase). The toolbox will consist of (i) a generic in situ load cell, (ii) non-invasive contrast agents and (iii) advanced image processing, reconstruction and modeling tools. This new characterization approach will provide a greatly improved insight into the dynamic mechanical behavior when loading the two types of fibrous materials." "Functional Carbon Nanotube Nanohybrids: from Synthesis to Advanced Spectroscopic Characterization" "Wim Wenseleers" "Nanostructured and organic optical and electronic materials (NANOrOPT)" "This is a fundamental research project financed by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). The project was subsidized after selection by the FWO-expert panel. The objective of the FWO's Research projects is to advance fundamental scientific research."