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We describe here the preparation and characterization of a photocathode assembly for CO 2 reduction to CO in 0.1 M LiClO 4 acetonitrile.
Abstract The commercial high‐temperature water‐gas shift (HT‐WGS) catalyst consists of CuO‐Cr 2 O 3 ‐Fe 2 O 3 , where Cu functions as a chemical promoter to increase the catalytic activity, but its promotion mechanism is poorly understood. In this work, a series of iron‐based model catalysts were investigated with in situ or pseudo in situ characterization, steady‐state WGS reaction, and density function theory (DFT) calculations. For the first time, a strong metal‐support interaction (SMSI) between Cu and FeO x was directly observed. During the WGS reaction, a thin FeO x overlayer migrates onto the metallic Cu particles, creating a hybrid surface structure with Cu‐FeO x interfaces. The synergistic interaction between Cu and FeO x not only stabilizes the Cu clusters, but also provides new catalytic active sites that facilitate CO adsorption, H 2 O dissociation, and WGS reaction. These new fundamental insights can potentially guide the rational design of improved iron‐based HT‐WGS catalysts.
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The Co 4 O 4 cubane is a representative structural model of oxidic cobalt oxygen evolving catalysts (Co-OECs). The Co-OECs are active when residing at two oxidation levels above an all Co(III) resting state. This doubly oxidized Co(IV) 2 state may be captured in a Co(III) 2 (IV) 2 cubane. We demonstrate that the Co(III) 2 (IV) 2 cubane may be electrochemically generated and the electronic properties of this unique high-valent state may be probed by in situ spectroscopy. Intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) bands in the near-IR are observed for the Co(III) 2 (IV) 2 cubane, and spectroscopic analysis together with electrochemical kinetics measurements reveal a larger reorganization energy and a smaller electron transfer rate constant for the doubly versus singly oxidized cubane. Spectroelectrochemical X-ray absorption data further reveal systematic spectral changes with successive oxidations from the cubane resting state. Electronic structure calculations correlated to experimental data suggest that this state is best represented as a localized, antiferromagnetically coupled Co(IV) 2 dimer. The exchange coupling in the cofacial Co(IV) 2 site allows for parallels to be drawn between the electronic structure of the Co 4 O 4 cubane model system and the high valent active site of the Co-OEC, with specific emphasis on the manifestation of a doubly oxidized Co(IV) 2 center on O–O bond formation.
Highlights: • Shape-selective preparation of CuO nanostructures. • Physicochemical characterizations. • Shape dependent catalytic CO oxidation performance. - Abstract: This research deals with preparation, characterization and shape dependent performance of copper oxide nanomaterials (CuO NMs) in simple carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation catalysis. Uniform and high purity rice grains-like, needle-like and sheet-like CuO NMs were achieved by adopting different experimental conditions. The shape selective CuO NMs were physically mixed and re-pelletized with γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thus 1 wt% CuO/γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst was prepared. The catalysts exhibited good surface area (186–190 m{sup 2} g{sup −1}), crystallinity, thermal stability and metal dispersion. The performance of various shape CuO/γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalysts in CO oxidation catalysis showed that needle-like CuO NMs performed superior against grains-like or sheet like CuO NMs in the temperature region between 200 and 225 °C. The 100% CO{sub 2} formation was achieved at 325 and 400 °C in the dry and wet conditions. Also, in every process temperature, differences in the catalytic activity due to catalyst's shape could be noted significantly. It was observed that the catalyst morphology played main role in achieving efficient catalytic process.
Electronic structure and reactivity of Cu- and Zn-promoted wet kneaded MgO/SiO 2 catalysts was interrogated during ethanol reaction to 1,3-BD. A multimodal nature of characterization, including in situ or operando X-ray, electron, light spectroscopies and steady state reactivity measurements demonstrated critical new information on the temporal evolution of the catalyst active sites including key measurements performed operando using synchrotron source (EXAFS and XANES). In situ DRIFT spectroscopy allowed to decouple the aldol condensation and dehydrogenation reactive steps due to the promotion with enhanced ability to carry out aldol condensation, as correlated with the steady state reactivity experiments . In situ UV-Vis spectroscopy presented a complex picture of the adsorbates with π- π* electronic transitions due to the allylic cations, cyclic or aromatic species while also suggesting oligomeric CuO species were formed. Operando X-ray measurements combined with ab initio multiple scattering modelling performed as a function of temperature identified a new transient intermediate assigned to a 4-fold coordinate Cu species that was key leading to increase in Cu-Cu pair number. For the first time, two types of Zn pairs, namely Zn-O and Zn-Mg, were identified during X-ray analysis under operating conditions. With Zn nearly 6-coordinated when in the vicinity of Mg while Zn-O species coordinated to nearly 4 nearest neighbors. The data suggest that such supported catalyst deactivation might proceed not only via carbon coking mechanism but also through the dispersed Cu site diffusion and growth due to the nearest neighbor oxygen atoms loss. The results presented suggest intermediates for segregation/deactivation mechanisms for a broader set of supported Cu and Zn catalysts used for alcohol upgrading catalytic reactions.
Conformal CaTiO 3 films were deposited onto MgAl 2 O 4 by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and then examined as “intelligent” catalyst supports for Ni in the steam and CO 2 reforming of methane. CaTiO 3 films (1 nm) were characterized by scanning transmission electron microscopy and XRD and shown to be stable to at least 1073 K. Catalysts with 1 and 20 wt % Ni were studied, and it was found that, following calcination at 1073 K, the Ni-CaTiO 3 /MgAl 2 O 4 catalysts required high-temperature reduction to achieve activities comparable to that of their Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 counterparts. However, the Ni-CaTiO 3 /MgAl 2 O 4 catalysts exhibited dramatically improved tolerance toward carbon-whisker formation. The carbon content on the 1 wt % Ni catalyst on CaTiO 3 /MgAl 2 O 4 was small even after heating the catalyst in a dry, 10% CH 4 –90% He mixture at 1073 K for 12 h. As a result, possible mechanisms for the high carbon tolerance of the perovskite-containing catalysts are discussed.
The ability to stabilize very small Pt crystallites in supported-metal catalysts following harsh treatments is an important industrial problem. Herein, we demonstrate that Pt particles can be maintained in the 1- to 2-nm range following multiple oxidation and reduction cycles at 1073 K when the particles are supported on 0.5-nm LaFeO 3 films that have been deposited onto MgAl 2 O 4 using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Characterization by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) suggest that, when the catalyst is oxidized at 1073 K, the Pt crystallites are oriented with respect to the underlying LaFeO 3 . X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) also shows evidence for changes in the Pt environment. CO-oxidation rates for the reduced catalyst remain unchanged after five redox cycles at 1073 K. Epitaxial growth of Pt clusters and the consequent strong metal-support interaction between Pt and LaFeO 3 are indicated to be prime reasons for the enhanced catalytic performances.
Mixed alcohols are attractive oxygenated products of biomass-derived syngas because they may be catalytically converted to a range of hydrocarbon products, including liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Catalytic dehydration to form olefins is a potential first step in the conversion of C 2 –C 4 alcohols into longer-chain hydrocarbons. Here, we describe the physical and chemical characterization along with catalytic activity and selectivity of 4 Brønsted and Lewis acidic catalysts for the dehydration of two mixed alcohol feed streams that are representative of products from syngas conversion over K-CoMoS type catalysts (i.e., ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol and 2-methyl-1-propanol). Specifically, a Lewis acidic Zr-incorporated mesoporous silicate (Zr-KIT-6), a commercial Al-containing mesoporous silicate (Al-MCM-41), a commercial microporous aluminosilicate (HZSM-5), and a commercial microporous silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-34) were tested for mixed alcohol dehydration at 250, 300 and 350 °C. The zeolite materials exhibited high activity (>98% ethanol conversion) at all temperatures while the mesoporous materials only displayed significant activity (>10% ethanol conversion) at or above 300 °C. The turnover frequencies for ethanol dehydration at 300 °C decreased in the following order: HZSM-5 > SAPO-34 > Al-MCM-41 > Zr-KIT-6, suggesting that Brønsted acidic sites are more active than Lewis acidic sites for alcohol dehydration. At 300 °C, SAPO-34 produced the highest yield of olefin products from both a water-free ethanol rich feed stream and a C 3+ -alcohol rich feed stream containing water. Post-reaction characterization indicated changes in the Brønsted-to-Lewis acidic site ratios for Zr-KIT-6, Al-MCM-41 and HZSM-5. Ammonia temperature programmed desorption indicated that the acid sites of post-reaction samples could be regenerated following treatment in air. The post-reaction SAPO-34 catalyst contained more aromatic, methylated aromatic and polyaromatic compounds than its zeolite counterpart HZSM-5, while no aromatic compounds were observed on post-reaction Al-MCM-41 or Zr-KIT-6 catalysts. Olefin yield at 300 °C over SAPO-34 (>95%) was comparable to published values for the methanol-to-olefins process, indicating the potential industrial application of mixed alcohol dehydration. Furthermore, the olefin product distribution over SAPO-34 was tunable by the composition of the alcohol feed mixture.
Atomically precise subnanometer catalysts are of significant interest because of their remarkable efficiency in a variety of catalytic reactions. However, the dynamic changes of active sites under reaction conditions, in particular, the transition of cluster-oxide interface structure have not yet been well-elucidated, lacking in situ measurements. By using multiple state-of-the-art in situ characterizations, here we show a dynamic interplay between copper tetramers and iron oxides in a single-size Cu-4/Fe2O3 catalyst, yielding an enrichment of surface Cu-4-Fe2+ species under reaction conditions that boosts CO2 hydrogenation at near-atmospheric pressures. During reaction, Cu-4 clusters facilitate the reduction of Fe2O3 producing surface-rich Fe2+ species in the proximate sites. The as-formed Fe2+ species in return promotes CO2 activation and transformation over Cu4 cluster, resulting in strikingly high methanol synthesis at low temperatures and C-1/C-3 hydrocarbon production in a high-temperature regime. The discovery of highly active Cu-4-Fe2+ sites thus provides new insights for the atomic-level design of copper catalyst toward high-efficiency CO2 conversion under mild conditions.
Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of biomass produces a liquid product consisting of organic and aqueous streams. The organic stream is typically slated for hydrotreating to produce hydrocarbon biofuels, while the aqueous stream is considered a waste stream, resulting in the loss of residual biogenic carbon. Here, we report the detailed characterization and catalytic conversion of a CFP wastewater stream with the ultimate aim to improve overall biomass utilization within a thermochemical biorefinery. An aqueous stream derived from CFP of beech wood was comprehensively characterized, quantifying 53 organic compounds to a total of 17% organics. The most abundant classes of compounds are acids, aldehydes, and alcohols. The most abundant components identified in the aqueous stream were C1-C2 organics, comprising 6.40% acetic acid, 2.16% methanol, and 1.84% formaldehyde on wet basis. The CFP aqueous stream was catalytically upgraded to olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons using a Ga/HZSM-5 catalyst at 500 degrees C. When the conversion yield of the upgraded products was measured with fresh, active catalyst, 33% of the carbon in the aqueous stream was recovered as aromatic hydrocarbons and 29% as olefins. The majority of the experiments were conducted using a molecular beam mass spectrometer and separate GC-MS/FID experiments were used to confirm the assignments and quantification of products with fresh excess catalyst. The recovered 62% carbon in the form of olefins and aromatics can be used to make coproducts and/or fuels potentially improving biorefinery economics and sustainability. Spent catalysts were collected after exposure to varying amounts of the feed, and were characterized using multipoint-Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) adsorption, ammonia temperature programmed desorption (TPD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to monitor deactivation of Ga/HZSM-5. These characterization data revealed that deactivation was caused by coke deposits, which blocked access to active sites of the catalyst and spent catalysts regained total activity after regeneration.
Enzymes that can catalyze the macrocyclization of linear peptide substrates have long been sought for the production of libraries of structurally diverse scaffolds via combinatorial gene assembly as well as to afford rapid in vivo screening methods. Orbitides are plant ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) of various sizes and topologies, several of which are shown to be biologically active. The diversity in size and sequence of orbitides suggests that the corresponding macrocyclases may be ideal catalysts for production of cyclic peptides. Here we present the biochemical characterization and crystal structures of the plant enzyme PCY1 involved in orbitide macrocyclization. These studies demonstrate how the PCY1 S9A protease fold has been adapted for transamidation, rather than hydrolysis, of acyl-enzyme intermediates to yield cyclic products. Notably, PCY1 uses an unusual strategy in which the cleaved C-terminal follower peptide from the substrate stabilizes the enzyme in a productive conformation to facilitate macrocyclization of the N-terminal fragment. The broad substrate tolerance of PCY1 can be exploited as a biotechnological tool to generate structurally diverse arrays of macrocycles, including those with nonproteinogenic elements.
Abstract The functionality of materials is determined by their composition 1–4 and microstructure, that is, the distribution and orientation of crystalline grains, grain boundaries and the defects within them 5,6 . Until now, characterization techniques that map the distribution of grains, their orientation and the presence of defects have been limited to surface investigations, to spatial resolutions of a few hundred nanometres or to systems of thickness around 100 nm, thus requiring destructive sample preparation for measurements and preventing the study of system-representative volumes or the investigation of materials under operational conditions 7–15 . Here we present X-ray linear dichroic orientation tomography (XL-DOT), a quantitative, non-invasive technique that allows for an intragranular and intergranular characterization of extended polycrystalline and non-crystalline 16 materials in three dimensions. We present the detailed characterization of a polycrystalline sample of vanadium pentoxide (V 2 O 5 ), a key catalyst in the production of sulfuric acid 17 . We determine the nanoscale composition, microstructure and crystal orientation throughout the polycrystalline sample with 73 nm spatial resolution. We identify and characterize grains, as well as twist, tilt and twin grain boundaries. We further observe the creation and annihilation of topological defects promoted by the presence of volume crystallographic defects. The non-destructive and spectroscopic nature of our method opens the door to operando combined chemical and microstructural investigations 11,18 of functional materials, including energy, mechanical and quantum materials.
The development of three-dimensional (3D), characterization techniques with high spatial and mass resolution is crucial for understanding and developing advanced materials for many engineering applications as well as for understanding natural materials. In recent decades, atom probe tomography (APT) which combines a point projection microscope and time-of-flight mass spectrometer has evolved to be an excellent characterization technique capable of providing 3D nanoscale characterization of materials with sub-nanometer scale spatial resolution, with equal sensitivity for all elements. This review discusses the current state as of beginning of the year 2016 of APT instrumentation, new developments in sample preparation methods, experimental procedures for different material classes, reconstruction of APT results, the current status of correlative microscopy, and application of APT for microstructural characterization in established scientific areas like structural materials as well as new applications in semiconducting nanowires, semiconductor devices, battery materials, catalyst materials, geological materials and biological materials. Finally, a brief perspective is given regarding the future of APT.
Fuel cells are expected to be a key next-generation energy source used for vehicles and homes, offering high energy conversion efficiency and minimal pollutant emissions. However, due to large overpotentials on anode and cathode, the efficiency is still much lower than theoretically predicted. During the past decades, considerable efforts have been made to investigate synergy effect of platinum alloyed with base metals. But, engineering the alloy particles in nanoscale has been a challenge. Most important challenges in developing nanostructured materials are the abilities to control size, monodispersity, microcomposition, and even morphology or self-assembly capability, so called Nanomaterials-by-Design, which requires interdisciplinary collaborations among computational modeling, chemical synthesis, nanoscale characterization as well as manufacturing processing. Electrocatalysts, particularly fuel cell catalysts, are dramatically different from heterogeneous catalysts because the surface area in micropores cannot be electrochemically controlled on the same time scale as more transport accessible surfaces. Therefore, electrocatalytic architectures need minimal microporous surface area while maximizing surfaces accessible through mesopores or macropores, and to "pin" the most active, highest performance physicochemical state of the materials even when exposed to thermodynamic forces, which would otherwise drive restructuring, crystallization, or densification of the nanoscale materials. In this presentation, results of engineering nanoscale platinum alloy particles down to 2 ~ 4 nm will be discussed. Based on nature of alloyed base metals, various synthesis technologies have been studied and developed to achieve capabilities of controlling particle size and particle microcomposition, namely, core-shell synthesis, microemulsion technique, thermal decomposition process, surface organometallic chemical method, etc. The results show that by careful engineering the particle size and microcomposition in nanoscale, it is able to achieve superior electrocatalytic activities comparing with traditional preparative methods. Examples to be discussed are high surface area carbon supported Pt, PtM binary, and PtMN ternary alloys, their synthesis processes, characterizations and electrocatalytic activities towards molecular oxygen reduction.
Here, linear octenes were produced in high (70–85%) selectivity from oligomerization of liquid 1-butene using carbon-supported cobalt oxide catalysts in a continuous flow reactor. The liquid products were characterized by two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Above 95% of the oligomers were C8 olefins, with the other products primarily being branched C12 olefins. The linear octene products at a conversion of 9.77% decreased in selectivity according to 3-octene > trans-2-octene > cis-2-octene > 4-octene. Methyl-heptenes including trans/cis-5-methyl-2-heptene > trans/cis-5-methyl-3-heptene > trans-3-methyl-2-heptene (at the lowest conversion) were the other major products summing to 15.6%. The selectivity of linear octenes decreased from 84 to 78% as the conversion increased from 10% to 29%. The product distribution suggests the reaction pathway involves a head-to-head coupling of two 1-butene molecules to form internal linear octenes. Head-to-tail coupling of two 1-butene molecules or a coupling between 1-butene and 2-butene forms the observed methyl-heptenes. The rate of head-to-head coupling is higher than the rate of head-to-tail or the rate of 1-butene to 2-butene coupling as indicated by the higher selectivity of linear octenes. The activated catalyst contained both Co 3 O 4 and CoO as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), in situ Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The cobalt oxide particle size was estimated to be between 5 and 10 nm by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and XRD. The Co 3 O 4 /CoO ratio decreased with increasing pretreatment temperature. Metallic cobalt, which has a low catalytic activity, formed at 550 °C.
This perspective reviews the current understanding of the Oxidative Coupling of Methane (OCM) reaction over the supported Mn-Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst, with a focus on recent insights gained from state-of-the-art in-situ and operando spectroscopic characterization and chemical probe experiments under controlled environments. The supported Mn-Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst exhibits dynamic structural changes during the OCM reaction, involving multiple reactive lattice and adsorbed oxygen species, each associated with different oxide phases. These oxygen species play distinct roles in various steps of the OCM mechanism. The catalytic active sites for activation of CH 4 are associated with isolated surface Na-WO x sites on the SiO 2 support and the role of surface MnO x sites on SiO 2 is to oxidatively dehydrogenate C 2 H 6 to C 2 H 4 . Furthermore, this paper provides a detailed discussion of these roles and also introduces new experimental data from Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) studies to clarify the ongoing debate in the literature regarding the contributions of lattice versus adsorbed oxygen species in OCM reaction product formation. Additionally, recommendations are offered for optimizing the performance of supported Mn-Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalysts to enhance CH 4 activation and C 2 product selectivity.
A series of palygorskite-supported manganese oxide (MnO x /PG) catalysts were prepd. by a pptn. method using different manganese precursor. The as-prepared MnO x /PG catalysts were used to evaluate the catalytic oxidn. of HCHO and characterized by BET, XRD, TG, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, H 2 -TPR, XPS, and chemical titration. The results showed that the crystalline phase, distribution and Mn valence states of MnO x on the surface of PG depended on the precursors. Birnessite-type manganese oxide (δ-MnO 2 ) formed and uniformly coated on the surface of PG when potassium permanganate (PP) was used as the precursor. The MnO x /PG-PP catalyst showed the best catalytic activity for HCHO removal at low temp. among these catalysts and achieved complete HCHO conversion at 150 °C. More importantly, the dynamic single-pass removal efficiency of MnO x /PG-PP catalyst for ppm-level HCHO oxidn. was as high as 95% under high GHSV (300 L/g·h) at ambient temp. MnO x /PG-PP catalyst also exhibited excellent cycling stability and long-term activity at low and ambient temp. The kinetic results of MnO x /PG-PP catalyst showed that the oxidn. of HCHO followed the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism. The possible reaction pathway of HCHO oxidn. was proposed based on in situ DRIFTS and TPSR studies. The large sp. surface area, highly distributed active component, a high proportion of Mn 4+ species, and lattice oxygen content are responsible for the high catalytic activity of MnO x /PG-PP for oxidn. of formaldehyde. This work developed a natural mineral supported manganese oxide as an inexpensive and efficient catalyst for the purifn. of HCHO in industrial or indoor air environment.