A research centre for gases, materials and sustainable processes.

What we are

MATGAS is an independent research organisation based on the UAB campus in Bellaterra. Its work sits at the meeting point of materials science and gas technology: the behaviour of gases in contact with solids and liquids, the design of materials that capture or release them, and the processes that turn those effects into useful products.

The centre was set up as an economic interest group by three organisations with different perspectives: an industrial gases company, a national research council and a public university. That structure still shapes how projects are chosen and carried out. Questions tend to start with a real material or process, and they are expected to produce something that can be used beyond the laboratory.

How we work

Our default method is a loop rather than a straight line. A molecular model can suggest which material or solvent is worth making; an experiment can show where the model is incomplete. The same loop applies at larger scale, where a process model is tested against measurements from a pilot rig.

We also keep an assessment of environmental performance close to the technical work. A process that works on paper but shifts the burden to another part of the system is not a satisfactory result. Life cycle assessment is therefore part of the research programme, not an afterthought.

The centre exists to make connections: between a molecule and a process, between a model and a measurement, and between a research result and the organisation that can use it.

Who we serve

• Industry seeking a technical route through a materials, gas or process problem.
• Public research groups that need a complementary method, facility or industrial perspective.
• Early career researchers working on applied questions in chemistry, physics and engineering.
• Funders and public bodies looking for independent work on carbon use, energy materials and cleaner processes.

Partnership and governance

The three founding organisations provide the centre's institutional base. Project work is carried out with additional partners from industry, universities and research institutes, often within publicly funded consortia. The centre's nonprofit status means that results are directed towards shared technical progress rather than distributed as profit.

For a discussion about a specific project, the fastest route is the contact page. For general information about the centre and its facilities, the research and laboratory sections describe what is available.