Real-time infrared detection of cyanide flip on silver-alumina NOx removal catalyst.

Spectroscopic studies of the mechanistic steps that occur on supported precious metal catalysts used in industrial and automotive applications are hampered by a dearth of suitable experimental methods. We used femtosecond laser excitation followed by nanosecond time-resolved in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to initiate a catalytic reaction on alumina-supported silver catalysts, which are of interest in minimizing nitrogen oxide emissions from fuel-efficient lean-burn engines. We found that the key intermediate step in the reaction between carbon monoxide and nitric oxide is the flip of a cyanide group from a silver nanoparticle to the alumina support (with a lifetime of 2 microseconds), which indicates the central role played by the interface between the metal particle and the oxide support.

Infrared and microwaves at 5.8 GHz in a catalytic reactor.

An improved micro-reactor cell for IR spectroscopic studies of heterogeneous catalysis was built around a 5.8 GHz microwave cavity. The reactor can operate at 20 bars and with conventional heating up to 720 K, with reactant gas flows velocities (GHSV) from 25,000 to 50,000 h(-1).

Probing the Lewis acidity and catalytic activity of the metal-organic framework [Cu3(btc)2] (BTC=benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate).

An optimized procedure was designed for the preparation of the microporous metal-organic framework (MOF) [Cu3(btc)2] (BTC=benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate). The crystalline material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, SEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 sorption, thermogravimetry, and IR spectroscopy of adsorbed CO. CO adsorbs on a small number of Cu2O impurities, and particularly on the free CuII coordination sites in the framework.