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At least 109 records · Page 6

Simulated Aging of Metal Tritides by Ball Milling Induced Gas Incorporation

The study of tritium aging effects on materials requires a significant time commitment as a consequence of its 12.3-year half-life, making developmental studies prohibitively difficult and expensive. However, detailed knowledge of long-term aging effects is critical to the development of structural and storage materials for future fusion reactor technologies. As a result, multiple approaches to simulated aging effects have been investigated. Here, we report a method of simulated tritium aging achieved though the incorporation of trapped gases via high-energy ball milling of LaNi 4.25 Al 0.75 alloy storage material. Experimental results verify the presence of trapped gases by a combination of temperature programmed desorption and LECO chemical analysis. Following gas incorporation, we find that many of the degraded hydrogen sorption properties found in aged storage materials are reproduced by the ball milled powders.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy of the surface chemistry of furfural on Pd(111)

The hydrolysis and subsequent acidic dehydration of biomass leads to the production of smaller oxygenates, including furfural, which can undergo subsequent reactions such as hydrogenation to produce value-added products. Palladium has been found to be an active catalyst for this process. As a result, the surface chemistry of furfural is investigated on a Pd(111) single-crystal surface using reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy as a basis for understanding the catalytic conversion of furfural to value-added products. Following adsorption at 90 K, furfural adopts a flat-lying geometry at low coverages, but converts to a tilted species as the coverage approaches saturation. Heating to ~175 K forms a tilted η 1 (O) species that appears to deprotonate on heating to above 200 K to form an intermediate with a tilted furyl ring and a carbonyl group close to parallel to the surface. Further heating to ~250 K and above caused this species to decarbonylate to form adsorbed carbon monoxide and an infrared invisible furyl intermediate. This can then undergo a ring-opening reaction to produce further CO and form a C 3 H 3 intermediate that can hydrogenate to produce propylene. Finally, this reaction sequence is in good agreement with previous density functional theory calculations and with the products observed in temperature-programmed desorption.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Surface chemistry on a polarizable surface: Coupling of CO with KTaO 3 (001)

Polarizable materials attract attention in catalysis because they have a free parameter for tuning chemical reactivity. Their surfaces entangle the dielectric polarization with surface polarity, excess charge, and orbital hybridization. How this affects individual adsorbed molecules is shown for the incipient ferroelectric perovskite KTaO 3 . This intrinsically polar material cleaves along (001) into KO- and TaO 2 -terminated surface domains. At TaO 2 terraces, the polarity-compensating excess electrons form a two-dimensional electron gas and can also localize by coupling to ferroelectric distortions. TaO 2 terraces host two distinct types of CO molecules, adsorbed at equivalent lattice sites but charged differently as seen in atomic force microscopy/scanning tunneling microscopy. Temperature-programmed desorption shows substantially stronger binding of the charged CO; in density functional theory calculations, the excess charge favors a bipolaronic configuration coupled to the CO. These results pinpoint how adsorption states couple to ferroelectric polarization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

An Investigation of the Electrochemical Activity of (Ba/Sr)FeO 3-y Anodes

FeO x , SrFeO 3-y (SF), and Ba 0.5 Sr 0.5 FeO 3–y (BSF) were studied for application as fuel oxidation catalysts in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) anodes. Electrodes were prepared by impregnation into porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), with La 0.3 Sr 0.7 TiO 3–y (LST) added for electronic conductivity. The electrode impedances decreased dramatically upon addition of SF and BSF and much less when only SrO or FeO x were added. Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) of O 2 from oxidized BSF showed O 2 desorbing between 200 °C and 700 °C, while no O 2 desorbed from Fe 2 O 3 below 900 °C. The results, together with thermodynamic analysis, suggest that stabilization of Fe +4 in the perovskite lattice plays an important role in enhancing the catalytic activity of SF and BSF by providing access to a Fe 3+ /Fe 4+ redox couple that can accept oxygen anions from the yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. Oxygen is weakly bound to these sites facilitating its reaction with adsorbed H 2 .

Electrochemistry↗

Microwave-Assisted Production of Polycarbonate Diols using Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a cheap and readily available resource that can be converted to value-added chemicals including fuels, polymers, and other products. One lucrative option is polycarbonate diols, which are the precursor to polyurethanes that find wide applications in automotive and aerospace industries. The traditional process for the synthesis of polycarbonate diols involves using hazardous phosgene and alcohols in a strongly basic medium that generates significant amounts of salt. Alternately, CO2 can be reacted with alkanediols over CeO2 catalysts to produce polycarbonate diols. For the current work, a microwave-assisted atmospheric flow system was investigated for converting CO2 into polycarbonate diols and was compared against a thermal system. Various parameters such as type and ratio of solvents, and the addition of dehydrating agents for the microwave system was tested. The different CeO2 catalysts used were characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD and CO2-TPD).

CO2 utilization↗

Ni-H-Beta Catalysts for Ethylene Oligomerization: Impact of Parent Cation on Ni Loading, Speciation, and Siting

Ni-H-Beta catalysts for ethylene oligomerization (EO) were prepared by ion exchange of NH 4 -Beta and H-Beta zeolites with aqueous Ni(NO 3 ) 2 and characterized by H 2 -temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), NH 3 -temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and diffuse-reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). Quadruple exchange of NH 4 -Beta at 70 °C resulted in 2.5 wt.% Ni loading corresponding to a Ni 2+ /framework aluminum (FAl) molar ratio of 0.52. [NiOH] + and H + are the primary charge-compensating cations in the uncalcined catalyst, as evidenced by TPR and DRIFTS. Subsequent calcination at 550 °C in air yielded a Ni-H-Beta catalyst containing primarily bare Ni 2+ ions bonded to framework oxygens. Quadruple exchange of H-Beta at 70 °C gave 2.0 wt.% Ni loading (Ni 2+ /FAl = 0.41). After calcination at 550 °C, the resulting Ni-H-Beta catalyst comprises a mixture of bare Ni 2+ ions: [NiOH] + and NiO species. The relative abundance of [NiOH] + increases with the number of exchanges. In situ pretreatment at 500 °C in flowing He converted the [NiOH] + species to bare Ni 2+ ions via dehydration. The bare Ni 2+ ions interact strongly with the Beta framework as evidenced by a perturbed antisymmetric T-O-T vibration at 945 cm -1 . DRIFT spectra of CO adsorbed at 20 °C indicate that the Ni 2+ ions occupy two distinct exchange positions. The results of EO testing at 225 °C and 11 bar (ethylene) suggested that the specific Ni 2+ species initially presented (e.g., bare Ni 2+ , [NiOH] + ) did not significantly affect the catalytic performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

CO Dissociation on model Co/SiO 2 catalysts – effect of adsorbed hydrogen

Here we found experimental evidence that shows the effect that adsorbed hydrogen can have on CO dissociation. For cobalt nanoparticles supported on SiO 2 , adsorbed hydrogen enhances CO dissociation. In contrast, adsorbed hydrogen inhibits CO dissociation on a cobalt film supported on SiO 2 . Considering the nature of cobalt deposited by physical vapor deposition, these results can be explained by a preference for CO dissociation to follow the hydrogen-assisted dissociation mechanism on FCC cobalt and step-edges, while the direct dissociation mechanism is preferred on HCP cobalt. These results are in agreement with previous theoretical results.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Describing adsorption of benzene, thiophene, and xenon on coinage metals by using the Zaremba–Kohn theory-based model

Semilocal (SL) density functional approximations (DFAs) are widely applied but have limitations due to their inability to incorporate long-range van der Waals (vdW) interaction. Non-local functionals (vdW-DF, VV10, and rVV10) or empirical methods (DFT+D, DFT+vdW, and DFT+MBD) are used with SL-DFAs to account for such missing interaction. The physisorption of a molecule on the surface of the coinage metals (Cu, Ag, and Au) is a typical example of systems where vdW interaction is significant. However, it is difficult to find a general method that reasonably describes both adsorption energy and geometry of even the simple prototypes of cyclic and heterocyclic aromatic molecules such as benzene (C 6 H 6 ) and thiophene (C 4 H 4 S), respectively, with reasonable accuracy. Here, we present an alternative scheme based on Zaremba–Kohn theory, called DFT+vdW-dZK. We show that unlike other popular methods, DFT+vdW-dZK and particularly SCAN+vdW-dZK give an accurate description of the physisorption of a rare-gas atom (xenon) and two small albeit diverse prototype organic molecules on the (111) surfaces of the coinage metals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Kinetics and selectivity of methane oxidation on an IrO 2 (110) film

Undercoordinated, bridging O-atoms (O br ) are highly active as H-acceptors in alkane dehydrogenation on IrO 2 (110) surfaces but transform to HO br groups that are inactive toward hydrocarbons. The low C–H activity and high stability of the HO br groups cause the kinetics and product selectivity during CH 4 oxidation on IrO 2 (110) to depend sensitively on the availability of O br atoms prior to the onset of product desorption. From temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS) and kinetic simulations, we identified two O br -coverage regimes that distinguish the kinetics and product formation during CH 4 oxidation on IrO 2 (110). Under excess O br conditions, when the initial O br coverage is greater than that needed to oxidize all the CH 4 to CO 2 and HO br groups, complete CH 4 oxidation is dominant and produces CO 2 in a single TPRS peak between 450 and 500 K. However, under O br -limited conditions, nearly all the initial O br atoms are deactivated by conversion to HO br or abstracted after only a fraction of the initially adsorbed CH 4 oxidizes to CO 2 and CO below 500 K. Thereafter, some of the excess CH x groups abstract H and desorb as CH 4 above ~500 K while the remainder oxidize to CO 2 and CO at a rate that is controlled by the rate at which Obr atoms are regenerated from HObr during the formation of CH 4 and H 2 O products. We also show that chemisorbed O-atoms ('on-top O') on IrO 2 (110) enhance CO 2 production below 500 K by efficiently abstracting H from Obr atoms and thereby increasing the coverage of O br atoms available to completely oxidize CH x groups at low temperature. Furthermore, our results provide new insights for understanding factors which govern the kinetics and selectivity during CH 4 oxidation on IrO 2 (110) surfaces.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

CO2 Sorption in Ionic Liquid Crystals

Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) have an affinity for certain polarizable gases such as CO2, due to their similarity to ionic liquids. We investigated three ILCs in the [1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium+] family: n=12,14 with [BF4-] and [PF6-]: liquid crystalline analogues to ionic liquids with moderate (e.g., 1-2 mol%) CO2 solubility at atmospheric conditions: [1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium+] with [BF4-] and [PF6-]. While ionic liquids show high CO2 solubility, regenerating the CO2 is a high-energy process. Liquid crystals show low CO2 solubility but have a much lower regeneration energy requirement. Will ionic liquid crystals uptake CO2? What are the energy requirements of regenerating CO2? Conclusions: 1. C12mim BF4- shows the highest sorption at 0.12 wt% CO2 in the isotropic phase vs. C14mim BF4- with 0.097 wt% in the smectic phase. We hypothesize that the increase in chain length affects the free volume of the smectic vs. isotropic phase of C14mim BF4-, increasing the latter. 2. The change in anion from BF4- to PF6- decreased the sorption to an insignificant level more analogous to a physical adsorption onto the material in all phases. We hypothesize that the change in anion to the larger, less charge dense PF6- decreased the attractive forces between CO2 and the anion. 3. 0.12 wt% of CO2 in C12mim BF4- is small but significant. This in combination with the room temperature release of CO2 after only requiring refrigeration temperatures to occlude the CO2, making ionic liquid crystals promising materials for future.

carbon dioxide sorption↗

A comparative study between real-world and laboratory accelerated aging of Cu/SSZ-13 SCR catalysts

Elucidating aging mechanisms in real-world applications is a critical component for developing and maintaining Cu/SSZ-13 SCR catalysts. To reveal gaps between laboratory accelerated aging and real-world aging, herein we report thorough comparative studies between 6 representative catalysts. Here, we apply a wide range of catalyst characterization methods, including surface area/porosity analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), H 2 -temperature programmed reduction, NH3-temperaure programmed desorption, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in situ X-ray photoelectron (XPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies, to gain atomic-level knowledge on Cu transformation under different aging protocols. We then correlate such knowledge to SCR, NH 3 /NO oxidation kinetic behavior of the catalysts. We found that sulfur aging plays the most important role in interpreting catalyst degradation during real-world application, including direct sulfur poisoning of isolated Cu II SCR active species to CuSO 4 -like species, the agglomeration of such species to multinuclear CuSO 4 clusters, and eventually, CuO formation during desulfation treatments. Such chemistries convert SCR active Cu to SCR inert Cu moieties without severely deteriorating catalyst support integrity. These characteristics are partially replicated by hydrothermal aging in the presence of SOx but are poorly mimicked by hydrothermal aging alone.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Activation of propane on Ag–PdO(101) model surfaces

Oxidation of alkanes remains a central challenge in catalysis due to the high activation barriers of C–H bonds and the thermodynamic favorability of complete oxidation. Palladium oxide (PdO), particularly its (101) facet, is known for its high reactivity in alkane oxidation, which is attributed to its coordinatively unsaturated palladium (Pd) and O atoms. In this study, we investigate the effect of silver (Ag) incorporation on the oxidation behavior of propane over PdO(101) using temperature-programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS) under controlled conditions. While pristine PdO(101) exhibits complete oxidation of propane with CO₂ and H₂O desorption at high temperatures (approximately 475 K), Ag incorporation induces a new CO₂ desorption peak at significantly lower temperatures (approximately 330 K). This shift is attributed to the formation of new active sites at the Ag–PdO(101) interface. Quantitative analysis reveals that low-temperature activity correlates with Ag coverage, while overall CO₂ production decreases, suggesting a redistribution of reactivity rather than an increase in active surface area. Activation energy estimations using the Redhead method confirm that C–H bond activation becomes more facile at the interface, with a 46 kJ/mol reduction compared to pristine PdO(101). These findings demonstrate that incorporating a less reactive metal such as Ag into PdO surfaces not only modifies the reaction energetics but also enables the design of bimetallic catalysts with improved selectivity for partial oxidation reactions.

Chemistry↗

Efficient transfer hydrodehalogenation of halophenols catalyzed by Pd supported on ceria

We report the transfer hydrodehalogenation (THD) of halophenols is efficiently catalyzed by palladium supported on high surface area ceria (Pd/CeO 2 ) under mild conditions (65 °C) using isopropanol (iPrOH) as hydrogen source. The reactivity of 4-halophenols (4-X-PhOH) varies in the order 4-F-PhOH > 4-Cl-PhOH > 4-Br-PhOH > > 4-I-PhOH and appears to be controlled by the desorption of halides from the catalyst surface. Kinetic analysis of the reactions and temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR) experiments indicate that oxidative addition of C-X bonds and H-abstraction from isopropoxide compete for the same active sites on Pd. The catalyst was able to conduct the THD of various hazardous pollutants and emerging contaminants (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol, pentafluorophenol and triclosan).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Role of Undercoordinated Sites for the Catalysis in Confined Spaces Formed by Two-Dimensional Material Overlayers

Adding a two-dimensional (2D) overlayer on a metal surface is a promising route for activating reactants confined in the interfacial space. However, an atomistic understanding of the role played by undercoordinated sites of the 2D overlayer in the activation of molecules in this nanoscaled confined space is yet to be developed. In this paper, we study CO dissociation as a prototypical reaction to investigate CO activation in the confined space enclosed by Rh(111) and a monolayer of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The effect of the space size (i.e., the distance between h-BN and the metal surface), the type of undercoordinated sites, and the size of the defect are explicitly studied by density functional theory with dispersion correction. The following temperature-programmed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement suggests that a small portion of the CO dissociated during the desorption, leaving the residual atomic oxygen incorporated into the h-BN lattice, which validates the theoretical prediction. Finally, the combination of theory and experiment calls for further attention to be paid to the role of undercoordinated sites in the 2D overlayers in confined systems forming potential new catalytic environments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Plasma-Catalyst Reactivity Control of Surface Nitrogen Species through Plasma-Temperature-Programmed Hydrogenation to Ammonia

Nonthermal plasma activation of N 2 can facilitate nitrogen adsorption on metal catalysts at low bulk temperatures and atmospheric pressure. Here, we apply a plasma-assisted temperature-programmed reaction (plasma-TPRxn) for ammonia (NH 3 ) synthesis using sequential exposure of a silica-supported metal catalyst to N 2 plasma followed by thermal hydrogen treatment while ramping the temperature to decouple the plasma activation of N 2 from surface catalyzed hydrogenation steps. This approach eliminates the effects from bulk plasma phase reactions, thereby allowing for direct interrogation of plasma activated nitrogen on the active metal surfaces. We confirm previously reported spectroscopic observations that show plasma-generated surface nitrogen can be converted to NH 3 through surface catalyzed pathways. Further, we demonstrate that the ammonia desorption peak temperature is sensitive to metal, with Pt desorbing NH 3 at the lowest temperature. Unsteady state microkinetic models of desorption kinetics as a function of initial N coverage and metal recover observed trends in NH 3 desorption temperatures and confirm that observed results reflect hydrogenation of plasma-induced N accommodation at each surface. In total, we show that the hydrogenation ability of the catalyst after plasma activation of N 2 is responsible for the reactivity trends observed in plasma-assisted NH 3 synthesis.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Deconvoluting XPS Spectra of La-Containing Perovskites from First-Principles

Perovskite-based oxides are used in electrochemical CO 2 and H 2 O reduction in electrochemical cells due to their compositional versatility, redox properties and stability. However limited knowledge exists on the mechanisms driving these processes. Toward this understanding, herein we probe the core level binding energy shifts of water-derived adspecies (H, O, OH, H 2 O) as well as the adsorption of CO 2 on LaCoO 3 and LaNiO 3 and we correlate the simulated peaks with experimental Temperature Programmed X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (TPXPS) results. We find the strong adsorption of such chemical species can affect the antiferromagnetic ordering of LaNiO 3 . The adsorption of such adspecies is further quantified through Bader and differential charge analyses. We find the higher O 1s core level binding energy peak for both LaCoO 3 and LaNiO 3 corresponds to adsorption of water-related species and CO 2 , while the lower energy peak is due to lattice oxygen. We further correlate these DFT-based core level O 1s binding energies with the TPXPS measurements to quantify the decrease of the O 1s contribution due to desorption of adsorbates and the apparent increase of the lattice oxygen (both bulk and surface) with temperature. Finally, we quantify the influence of adsorbates on the La 4d, Co 2p and the Ni 3p core level binding energy shifts. This work demonstrates how theoretically generated XPS data can be utilized to predict species-specific binding energy shifts to assist in the deconvolution of the experimental results.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗