The Magnetic Resonance and Energy Network (RME): making magnetic resonance an essential tool for research in the field of energy
The use of NMR and MRI as efficient tools in the field of energy
The modes of energy production and use are changing and fundamental research is more necessary than ever to accompany the energy transition and to address potential disruptions. The tools and methods used to study the phenomena involved in energy production, conversion and use processes must necessarily be versatile and adaptable. The objects of energy are indeed multiform: solid catalysts, polymer electrolytes, complex fluids, soft matter, bioproducts… and are embedded in complex devices (batteries, fuel cells, chemical reactors…). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods have the particularity of being applicable to matter in liquid and solid states, to study the structure and morphology of a sample, to characterize the diffusion or flow of a liquid phase in a complex medium or to image a system with a wide variety of contrast sources. The most common target element in NMR and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is the nucleus of the hydrogen atom, making the methods suitable for a large number of systems (those containing water in particular). The chemical selectivity of the NMR phenomenon is also used to specifically study other elements, such as fluorine, sodium, nitrogen, chlorine, phosphorus or isotopes of carbon and oxygen
For a number of years, LEMTA has had expertise in NMR spectroscopy and MRI imaging. The laboratory develops specific NMR devices to study matter or phenomena in extreme environments, in-situ or operando in dedicated devices. In this context, LEMTA and 9 other laboratories responded in early 2019 to the call for projects of the ANCRE alliance “Basic Energy Sciences”. This project, started in June 2019, served as a starting point for the creation of the RME network. The actions of the new network aim in particular at removing the technical and/or scientific obstacles that currently limit the use of NMR/MRI tools on a larger scale in energy research.
We can cite points of reflection such as :
- Which NMR/MRI methodologies are best suited to the study of processes used in the field of energy?
- How to benefit from both imaging and spectroscopy know-how?
- How to prepare the designs of adapted devices and manufacture them (additive manufacturing, microfluidic processes, material compatibility, sample
- Environments (water constraints, temperature)?
- How to increase the sensitivity of measurements
- How to couple the magnetic resonance approach to other experimental techniques (optics, X-ray, neutrons)?
The group’s reflections also cover the acquisition and sharing of equipment. Spectrometers and imagers are indeed “heavy” equipment, so that their acquisition and maintenance is difficult to support by a research unit alone. It is therefore essential to be federated around common needs in order to be able to respond collectively and efficiently to calls for tenders likely to provide the French community with structuring equipment.
The 10 current members of the RME network are :
- LEMTA Laboratory (University of Lorraine, CNRS)
- Navier Laboratory (Ecole des ponts ParisTech, Gustave Eiffel University, CNRS)
- Magnetic Resonance Laboratory (CEA/DRF/IRIG)
- AgroResonance (QuaPA unit, INRAE)
- Unité OPAALE (INRAe), CEMHTI Laboratory (CNRS)
- IR4M Laboratory (University of Paris Saclay, CEA, CNRS, INSERM)
- CRM2 Laboratory (University of Lorraine, CNRS )
- PHENIX Laboratory (Sorbonne University, CNRS)
- IFPEN.