The 15 participants will be divided into 5 groups of 3 people. Each group will be performed one practical course per day during the afternoon (14h30 – 17h30) under the supervision of two people of the IRCELYON staff.

This practical course consists on a preparation by the wet-impregnation technique of a nanodispersed Pt/YSZ catalyst. YSZ, Yttria-Stabilised Zirconia, is an O2- ionically conducting electrolyte. The procedure of Pt impregnation on YSZ support will be performed as well as the calcination and reduction steps. Each group will produce few grams of Pt/YSZ catalyst.
Supervisors: L. Retailleau-Mevel, Alexandre Baylet

The catalyst prepared during PC1 will be characterized during this practical course. First of all, the specific surface area of the sample will be measured by BET technique. Then, the reactivity of chemisorbed oxygen on the surface of the catalyst will be investigated by Temperature-programmed Desorption (TPD) technique. Results obtained by the different groups will be compared.
Supervisors: A. Boréave, L. Mazri

The electrochemical catalyst used in this PC will be a tubular one made from a YSZ tubular gauge. Both the working (W) and the counter (CE) electrodes were Pt films symmetrically deposited on the outer and the inner surfaces, respectively, of the YSZ tube. The O2-TPD experiments will be carried out in a continuous flowing system under atmospheric pressure. The oxygen adsorption will be performed at OCV and under closed-circuit conditions for investigating the impact of the electrical polarisation on chemisorbed oxygen species. Analysis of the gases during desorption experiments was performed by an on-line micro gas-chromatograph (VARIAN CP2003). This device enables the analysis of O2 in 30 seconds with a detection limit of about 1 ppm for O2. Results will be compared with O2-TPD performed on nanodispersed Pt/YSZ.
Supervisors: A. Hadjar, P. Vernoux

This practical course will be devoted to a complete NEMCA effect experiment. The electrochemical catalyst will be a thin film of Pt interfaced on a YSZ pellet. The catalytic activity of this sample for deep oxidation of propane will be carried out under various polarizations (negative and positive) in order to evidence an electrochemical promotion of the Pt activity.
Supervisors: L. Lizarraga, P. Vernoux

This Practical session will use a setup which can generate a flow of suspended soot particulates in order to simulate a real Diesel exhaust. This reproducible smoke will be generated by using a Combustion Aerosol Standard generator (CAST), based on a truncated flame burner. Various parameters of the CAST can be adjusted in order to produce a controlable flow of soot particulates in terms of concentration and size distribution. The setup also include additional gas lines in order to adjust the composition near to a real Diesel exhaust. The pratical course will be focused on soot trapping in a Diesel Particulate Filter. During this experiment, a lot of parameters will be analyzed such as the pressure drop, the size and composition (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS)) of the soot particulates as well as the gas analysis (µ chromatogram).
Supervisors: M. Guth, A. Boréave