| AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Fundamental Discoveries in Heterogeneous Catalysis Focus Topic | Friday Sessions |
| Session HC+SS-FrM |
| Session: | Catalysis at Complex Interfaces |
| Presenter: | Miguel Angel Rodriguez Olguin, University of Twente, Netherlands |
| Authors: | M.A. Rodriguez Olguin, University of Twente, Netherlands M. Enes da Silva, University of Twente, Netherlands J. Faria, University of Twente, Netherlands A. Susarrey Arce, University of Twente, Netherlands H. Gardeniers, University of Twente, Netherlands |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The pressing transition from unsustainable fossil fuels to a sustainable economy based on renewables with minimal chemical waste is one of the grand challenges for the twenty-first century. To mitigate these challenges, it is crucial that improved synthetic catalytic methods are developed, that increase conversion and selectivity of existing chemical transformation processes. For example, alumina is a widely used catalyst support owing to its excellent thermal stability and inherent chemical acidity. Technologies like three-way catalytic converters rely on well-defined alumina-based structured monoliths of about hundred of micrometers to millimeters dimensions without spatial control on the allocation of the metal catalyst. The latter is considered essential to derive at more stable catalysts, it may prevent sintering for instance. Additive manufacturing of catalyst materials can pave the path to control the distribution of catalytic nanoparticles, and mass transport modulation by optimized 3-dimensional support designs. In this work, we present co-axial electrospinning to control the distribution of Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs) over synthetic fibrous-like Al2O3 structures. First, our approach involved several synthetic routes for the fine tuning of the Al2O3 fibers by varying the formulation of Al(NO3)3•9H2O, Al(OH)3, C14H27AlO5 precursors and Al2O3 nanoparticles additives. Thermal stability and chemical properties of the nanofibers have been tested. The Al2O3 fibers morphology is visualized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and the fiber diameter is estimated between 81 nm to 107 nm depending on aluminum precursor. Furthermore, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) is utilized to confirm the crystalline phase of the Al2O3 used as support. Second, the Al2O3 that performs best in terms of morphology, crystallinity, surface area and acidity is loaded with Pd NPs. The location of Pd NPs is varied by tuning the Pd concentration of the precursor suspension. Finally, the Al2O3-Pd fibrous catalyst is tested by chemisorbing CO species. CO chemisorption in liquid phase is performed with in-situ Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-IR). Further, liquid phase catalytic reactions will be explored.