Gianluca Landi

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility

The development of biosafe theranostic nanoplatforms has attracted great attention due to their multifunctional behavior, reduced potential toxicity, and improved long‐term safety. When considering photoacoustic contrast agents and photothermal conversion tools, melanin and constructs like melanin are highly appealing due to their ability to absorb...

Hydrogen is expected to largely contribute to the near-future circular economy. Today, most hydrogen is still produced from fossil fuels or renewable pathways with low efficiency and high cost. Herein, a proof of concept for a novel hydrogen production process is proposed, here named cyan hydrogen, inspired by a combination of the green and blue pr...

Hybrid lignin TiO 2 nanoparticles: red-ox activity enables biocide disinfection and dye removal.

Within the “hydrogen chain”, the hight-emperature water gas shift reaction represents a key step to improve the H 2 yield and adjust the H 2 /CO x ratio to fit the constraints of downstream processes. Despite the commercial application of the high-temperature water gas shift, novel catalysts characterized by higher intrinsic activity (especially at...

The performance of a perovskite-based oxygen carrier for the partial oxidation of methane in thermochemical energy storage applications has been investigated. A synthetic perovskite with formula La0.6Sr0.4FeO3 has been scrutinized for Chemical Looping Reforming (CLR) of CH4 under fixed-bed and fluidized-bed conditions. Temperature-programmed reduct...

CeO2 slow redox kinetics as well as low oxygen exchange ability limit its application as a catalyst in solar thermochemical two-step cycles. In this study, Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 catalysts doped with potassium or transition metals (Cu, Mn, Fe), as well as co-doped materials were synthesized. Samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 sorption...

Glycerol is the main by-product of biodiesel production; its upgrading to more valuable products is a demanding issue. Hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol is one of the most interesting processes among the possible upgrading routes. In this study, we propose novel copper/zirconia catalysts prepared by advanced preparation methods, including copper de...

Green syngas production is a sustainable energy-development goal. Thermochemical H2O/CO2 splitting is a very promising sustainable technology allowing the production of H2 and CO with only oxygen as the by-product. CeO2-ZrO2 systems are well known thermochemical splitting catalysts, since they combine stability at high temperature with rapid kineti...

The main drawback for the development of biomass gasification technology is tar conversion. Among the various methods for tar abatement, the use of catalysts has been proposed in the literature. Most of the works reported in the literature on catalytic systems for biomass tar conversion refers to catalysts in the form of powder; however, deactivati...

Structured catalytic reactors are widely used in the automotive sector for exhaust after-treatment, thus representing the state-of-art technology in this sector [...]

Humic acids (HA) are considered a promising and inexpensive source for novel multifunctional materials for a huge range of applications. However, aggregation and degradation phenomena in aqueous environment prevent from their full exploitation. A valid strategy to address these issues relies on combining HA moieties at the molecular scale with an i...

The catalytic performance in soot oxidation of lab-scale silicon carbide (SiC) diesel particulate filters (DPFs) washcoated with metal-promoted CeO2 has been investigated focusing on the amount and the nature of the metal (Ag or Cu), and on the preparation method for the catalytic washcoat deposition. A wide range of metal loads was explored. The m...

In the work presented in this paper, the combined effects of initial temperature and catalyst activity on the regeneration dynamics of a catalytic diesel particulate filter (DPF) have been investigated. To this end, CFD-based simulations of soot combustion in a single-channel configuration were performed. In the model, all the soot trapped inside t...

Catalytic (i.e., catalyst-coated) diesel particulate filters (DPFs) represent the best option for removing particulate matter, which is mostly composed of soot, from diesel engine exhaust. In this chapter, the main critical issue for regeneration of catalytic DPFs, i.e., the contact in the solid-solid reaction between soot and catalyst, is addresse...

Preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich streams needs a suitable catalyst that selectively oxidizes CO avoiding H2 oxidation. Among the proposed catalysts, copper oxide supported on ceria (CuO/CeO2) received wide interest due to its intrinsic activity and selectivity and low cost with respect to noble metals.

Soot-catalyst contact represents the main critical issue for an effective regeneration of catalytic (i.e., catalyst-coated) diesel particulate filters (DPFs). Most of the literature reviews on this topic have mainly been focused on studies dealing with powdered soot-catalyst mixtures. Although the results obtained on powders surely provide signific...

This study investigates the catalytic properties of K+ and Cu2 + /Fe3 + co-doped ceria-zirconia (CeZr) toward water and carbon dioxide co-splitting. These materials can convert separate feeds of CO2 and H2O into CO and H2. In co-splitting tests, water reacts faster on the K-Cu-CeZr catalyst with negligible CO production. The reduction of the K-Fe-C...

The enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass-derived compounds represents a valid strategy to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, with geopolitical and environmental benefits. In particular, β-glucosidase (BG) enzyme is the bottleneck in the degradation of cellulose because it catalyzes the hydrolysis of cellobiose, a known inhibitor of t...

The enzymatic conversion of biomass-derived compounds represents a key step in the biorefinery flowsheet, allowing low-temperature high-efficiency reactions. β-Glucosidases are able to hydrolyze cellobiose into glucose. Wrinkled silica nanoparticles (WSNs) were demonstrated to be a good support for the immobilization of β-glucosidases, showing bett...

Biodiesel has been identified as one of the notable options for at least complementing conventional fuels. From a transesterification reaction, crude glycerol is produced as the main by-product. Given the difficultly in upgrading to high-grade glycerin and glycerol market saturation, alternative routes to more value-added products have aroused sign...

Spent solvents of the packaging industry are disposed of, thus representing economic, safety, and environmental issues. Steam reforming of these solvent streams can be an alternative, allowing their valorization to syngas. In this work, ceria supported nickel catalysts were deposed onto silicon carbide (SiC) honeycomb monoliths; these structured ca...

Thermochemical cycles received renewed interest as CO2 and H2O energy-upgrading processes using solar energy as source. The two-step cycles, based on self-reduction in a solar reactor at high temperature (above 1300–1400 °C) and re-oxidation by CO2 and/or H2O flow, are the most interesting due to their simplicity and high theoretical solar-to-fuel...

CO2 and H2O can be energy-upgraded through solar thermochemical cycles. Suitable redox materials are reduced in a solar reactor at high temperature (above 1300-1400°C) and afterwards re-oxidised by CO2 and/or H2O flow, thus producing CO and/or H2. Ceria was recognised as one of the most interesting materials for this process. However, high reductio...

Mixed perovskites, described by the formula La0.6Sr0.4Mn1−xFexO3−δ with x ranging from 0 to 1, were prepared and tested as potential catalysts for the solar thermochemical water and carbon dioxide splitting. The increase of iron amount promotes the reduction step according to the trend of the starting reduction temperatures; on the other hand, the...

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells represent one of the most interesting systems for converting hydrogen from fossil or renewable fuels into electric power at low temperature. To prevent poisoning of fuel cell anodes, CO concentration has to be reduced to 10-100 ppm. To this aim, the preliminary catalytic preferential oxidation of CO may be...

Despite of the huge number of papers about the catalytic preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) for the purification of H2 streams, there is still a need for more effective catalysts in order to reduce the large required catalyst volume of CO-PROX unity. In this work, large surface area nanometric ceria was used as support for CuO/CeO2 catalysts wi...

The regeneration performance of a diesel particulate filter (DPF) wash-coated with nanometric ceria particles was studied focusing on the effect of the soot-catalyst contact. The pore size distribution of the catalyst-loaded filter did not show significant differences with respect to that of the bare filter. Furthermore, the catalyst was highly dis...

In this work, we have investigated the opportunity to use fully and partially coated monoliths as catalytic combustors for syngas/methane mixtures in the presence of significant CO2 partial pressure. In particular, the effects of syngas-to-methane ratio and CO2 content were studied on perovskite-based monoliths to verify the ability of CO to sustai...

CO adsorption on a copper/ceria nanopowder washcoated onto a cordierite monolith has been studied at low temperature by following the time evolution of the outlet concentration of CO and CO2 on nanometric CuO/CeO2 catalyst. The effects of adsorption time length, gas phase composition (H2 or O2 addition), temperature and contact time were investigat...

The potential of diesel particulate filters wash-coated with highly dispersed nano-metric ceria particles for continuous regeneration has been investigated. To this end, catalytic filters were prepared, soot-loaded (avoiding the formation of the cake layer), and regenerated - under isothermal conditions - at temperature ranging from 200-600°C. Resu...

In this work we review our results on the preparation, characterization and testing of copper/ceria structured catalysts for CO abatement in H2-rich streams by preferential oxidation. Copper/ceria wash-coated monoliths were prepared by a modified dip coating procedure. The effect of the substrate properties (cell density and wall thermal conductivi...

A CuO/CeO2 catalyst with 4 wt% CuO nominal content has been prepared by Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) and characterized by ICP-MS, BET surface area analysis, XPS, HRTEM, H2 and CO TPR. The catalyst, showing a rather homogenous distribution of copper that strongly interacts with ceria, has been tested in CO-PROX reaction also in the presence o...

The catalytic behavior of an iron-promoted copper/ceria catalyst towards CO-PROX reaction under feed mixtures containing variable concentrations of CO2 (0-15 vol.%) and H2O (0-10 vol.%) was compared to that of an unpromoted sample with the same copper loading. At low temperature both species inhibit CO conversion on Fe-promoted catalyst more than o...

A CFD model of a copper-ceria based micro-reactor for the CO preferential oxidation reaction is developed. Simulations are performed by changing the thermal conductivity of the support and the oxygen inlet concentration. It is found that the value of the wall thermal conductivity has a significant role on the temperature profiles, hot-spot and sele...

In this work, a CFD model was used to investigate the transient behavior of a perovskite-based monolith during catalytic combustion of methane at high pressure. Two configurations were studied, the configuration of a fully coated monolith and that of a partially coated monolith (with only the external channels coated by the catalyst). Simulations w...

This work deals with the experimental study of transient ignition during high-pressure combustion of CH4- enriched syngas. The structured catalyst is a monolith where only the external channels are coated with 20 wt. % LaMnO3/La-?Al2O3 (catalyst coating degree of 80 %). This novel core-shell configuration has shown the opportunity to get complete m...

In this work, tests of catalytic combustion of CH4 enriched syngas are carried out at high pressure (up to 9 bar) over a 20wt%LaMnO3/La-γAl2O3 based monolith. The effect of methane and CO2 addition on the catalyst performances is studied at fixed values of the heating value, H2/CO ratio (1.5) and total flow rate. Results show that ignition is drive...

In this work, the transient behavior of a perovskite-based monolith was investigated during catalytic combustion of methane at high pressure. The transient behavior of both a fully coated and a partially coated monolithic reactor was simulated. Numerical results have shown that the initial phase is mainly driven by heterogeneous reactions. The temp...

The effect of the CO2 content (up to 30%) on the methane catalytic combustion over a perovskyte-based monolith has been investigated at high pressure (up to 8 bar). Catalytic tests have been performed by varying the preheating temperature and the operating pressure. The CO2 adsorption over the catalytic surface has been evaluated through temperatur...

Catalytic combustion has attracted a renewed interest as an alternative route to homogeneous combustion of low BTU mixtures (H2, CO). As a matter of fact, the partial or total replacement of natural gas (i.e. CH4) with low BTU fuels is usually accompanied by a reduction of fuel dilution and an increase of NOx emissions. In this work we experimental...

In the present work, we report experimental results for the behaviour of a LaMnO3-based honeycomb in the catalytic combustion of methane, in particular during the start-up and shut-down operations at different pressures. Methane ignition is mainly driven by heterogeneous reactions. The temperature increase due to the heat developed on the catalyst...

This work focuses on the thermal management of a monolithic reactor for catalytic combustion of methane at pressure relevant to gas turbine applications. The role of operating pressure on methane conversion, temperature profiles, and relevance of homogeneous reaction with respect to heterogeneous reaction is investigated both experimentally and num...

The adsorption of NO has been investigated in the temperature range 50-150 degrees C on Cu-ZSM-5 and La-Cu-ZSM-5 also in the presence of water and O-2 in a continuous flow reactor. TPD experiments have been performed after each adsorption test monitoring all desorbed NOx species. Water has been found to displace NO from copper sites strongly reduci...

Catalytic combustion has been extensively studied as an alternative route to homogeneous combustion for power generation systems, in particular for gas turbines. Despite the great interest, very little work has been devoted to high-pressure catalytic combustion, i.e., under conditions more relevant for gas turbines. In this work, the effect of pres...

Structured catalysts with mixed Rh-LaMnO3 formulation were developed for the partial oxidn. of methane to syngas intended as a preliminary conversion step in advanced combustion systems such as power turbines and utility burners employing a catalytic fuel-rich approach to reduce thermal NOx formation. Honeycomb catalysts were fully characterized by...

Propane oxidative dehydrogenation has been investigated on vanadyl orthophosphate dispersed on different supports (Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2, ZrO2, MgO and SnO) in a fixed bed reactor at 300-550 °C. Catalysts have been characterized by bulk and surface sensitive techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET anal., temp. programmed redn. with H2 (H2-TPR...

Catalytic partial oxidation of methane has been studied over structured bi-functional catalysts containing LaMnO3 perovskite and Rh. The effects of the noble metal content and of substrate morphology and thermal conductivity have been investigated under high temperature pseudo-adiabatic conditions. Several reaction conditions have been explored by...

Catalytic micro-combustors have been developed via deposition of active layers of Pt/γ-Al2O3, LaMnO3/γ-Al2O3 and Pt-LaMnO3/γ-Al2O3 on FeCralloy and α-Al2O3 slabs. Diffusional resistance in the gas phase have been exptl. excluded, even if catalyst is present on only one side of the reactor. Pt/γ-Al2O3 gave best performances in the combustion of...

The range of conditions of stable operation of a catalytic honeycomb-type monolith has been investigated for the combustion of methane. Catalyst is constituted by a Pt-LaMnO3 active phase supported on a γ-Al2O3 washcoat deposited onto the internal channels of 900 cpsi commercial cordierite monolith via a dip-coating technique. The auto-thermal oper...

MCM-22 zeolite containing vanadium atoms either at structural or at ion-exchange positions was synthesized and tested in propane oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) reaction in a fixed bed reactor, at temperatures between 340 and 560 degrees C. Acidity of these materials, as well as of similar materials that did not contain vanadium, was characterized...

Novel Rh-La(Mn,Co)O3 structured catalysts were developed for the partial oxidn. of methane to syngas intended as a preliminary conversion step in combustion systems such as power turbines and utility burners employing a fuel-rich fuel-lean approach to reduce NOx formation. Active components were impregnated on La-γ-Al2O3 washcoated honeycomb monol...

The single and combined effect of operating parameters, as water and oxygen concn., temp., and contact time on the catalytic activity of a VPO catalyst in the oxidn. of propane and propylene to acrylic acid was investigated in a fixed bed reactor. The results indicate that acrylic acid is formed by propylene produced by propane dehydrogenation and...

Rh-LaCoO3 structured catalysts for the oxidative production of syngas from methane were developed by deposition of the active components on La-γ-Al2O3 washcoated honeycomb monoliths. SEM/EDS analysis showed a good adhesion of the washcoat layer and a uniform distribution of La and Co, while Rh was favourably located on the outer shell. Catalytic pa...