Metal-support interactions in metal oxide-supported atomic, cluster, and nanoparticle catalysis.

Supported metal catalysts are essential to a plethora of processes in the chemical industry. The overall performance of these catalysts depends strongly on the interaction of adsorbates at the atomic level, which can be manipulated and controlled by the different constituents of the active material (, support and active metal). The description of catalyst activity and the relationship between active constituent and the support, or metal-support interactions (MSI), in heterogeneous (thermo)catalysts is a complex phenomenon with multivariate (dependent and independent) contributions that are difficult to disentangle, both experimentally and theoretically.

CO Activation and Hydrogenation on Cu-ZnO/AlO Nanorod Catalysts: An In Situ FTIR Study.

CuZnO/AlO is the industrial catalyst used for methanol synthesis from syngas (CO + H) and is also promising for the hydrogenation of CO to methanol. In this work, we synthesized AlO nanorods (n-AlO) and impregnated them with the CuZnO component. The catalysts were evaluated for the hydrogenation of CO to methanol in a fixed-bed reactor.

Impacts of the Catalyst Structures on CO Activation on Catalyst Surfaces.

Utilizing CO as a sustainable carbon source to form valuable products requires activating it by active sites on catalyst surfaces. These active sites are usually in or below the nanometer scale. Some metals and metal oxides can catalyze the CO transformation reactions.

Biomimetic fabrication of highly ordered laminae-trestle-laminae structured copper aero-sponge.

Light-weight metallic aero-sponges are highly desirable for electronics, energy storage, catalysis and environmental remediation. Although several fabrication methods have been developed, the mechanical strength and the structural fatigue resistance of the metallic aero-sponges remain unsatisfactory. Loofah sponge is known for its mechanical strength and grease absorption due to its highly ordered hierarchical laminae-trestle-laminae (L-T-L) microstructure.

Fabrication of 3-D confined spaces with Au NPs: Superior dispersion and catalytic activity.

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) as an active noble-metal site have received great attention because of its superior catalytic activity in diverse reactions. However, the activity of Au NPs is strongly dependent on its size and dispersion degree. Therefore, we developed an efficient solid-state reduction (SSR) strategy for the first time to promote the dispersion degree and size of Au NPs in template-occluded KIT-6 (AK) as a support by taking advantage of (i) 3-dimentonal cubic mesoporous structure of support (ii) confined spaces present between template (Pluronic (P) 123) and silica wall of AK where Au NPs locate (iii) interaction of both P123 as template and silica walls of AK with Au NPs highly efficient for Au NPs dispersion and (iv) SSR strategy which avoids competitive adsorption of solvent in the conventional fabrication process.

Effect of vanadium contamination on the framework and micropore structure of ultra stable Y-zeolite.

Y-zeolites are the main component of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst for conversion of crude petroleum to products of high demand including transportation fuel. We investigated effects of vanadium which is present as one of the impurities in FCC feedstock on the framework and micropore structure of ultra-stable (US) Y-zeolite. The zeolite samples were prepared and characterized using standard techniques including: (1) X-ray diffraction, (2) N2 adsorption employing non local density functional theory method, NLDFT, (3) Transmittance and Pyridine FTIR, (4) Transmittance electron microscopy (TEM), and (5) (27)Al and (29)Si MAS-NMR.