[Industry information] Scientists confirmed new methods to improve catalyst activity

Source: azom.com | Translation: World Platinum Investment Association

The surface of the catalyst contains many active sites where chemical reactions occur. These active sites have fast changes and high sensitivity, and can react to their surrounding environment in extremely complex and often unpredictable ways.

Therefore, little is known about how the reaction process on these active sites is carried out or how these sites interact with the environment. Traditional methods, such as checking the catalyst in the static environment of the chemical reactor, cannot answer these questions.

Therefore, CCEI scientists have integrated modeling, in situ spectroscopy, modern synthesis methods and probe reactions to better understand the working principles of tungsten trioxide and platinum catalyst materials, including the hypothetical structural forms and reactions occurring on the surface of the catalyst.

Specifically, researchers would like to know how the active sites (where chemical reactions occur) on the catalyst change with time and exposure to specific changes.

Fu Jiayi, the main author of the study and chemical engineer of Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: "By identifying their dynamic signs, we can establish a robust model to predict the changes of these active sites in different working environments."

Fu Jiayi received a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.

Jiayi clarified that the reaction on the surface of the catalyst is similar to that of the plant when it receives proper nutrition and sunshine. Researchers have successfully demonstrated a unique "irrigation" method, which uses hydrogen pulse to significantly increase the number of active sites on these catalysts and increase the reaction rate by 10 times.

"In fact, we did not apply reactants to the catalyst like watering plants. We just created these active sites simulating water through pulsed hydrogen switch, which is a process of hydroxylation. These active sites will undergo a series of chemical reactions after hydroxylation. Therefore, just like cultivating plants need light and water, we use hydrogen to 'water' the catalyst to make it grow new chemicals."

Dion Vlachos is President of Unidel Dan Rich Energy, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Director of CCEI at the University of Delaware.

As the head of the Delaware Energy Research Institute, Vlachos said that this was a constructive attempt, which confirmed that simulation experiments can predict the catalytic performance and promote the rational design of more effective catalytic procedures. The research results also provide a feasible method for investigating, understanding and regulating these important catalysts.

"As we all know, catalysts will change with the change of the environment, but their change speed is very fast, and the change mode has been difficult to observe in real time. This attempt has established a platform for analyzing the reaction activities of such catalysts, and more importantly, it has also brought opportunities for the design to achieve the improvement of new performance."

The CCEI project team led by Unidel Dan includes scientists from the University of Delaware, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Pennsylvania, Shixi University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Tianjin University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.

The Energy Innovation Catalysis Center, founded in 2009, is one of the two energy frontier research centers funded by the United States Department of Energy at the University of Delaware. The center has scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratory and several other famous universities. (Source: azom. com)

Translator: World Platinum Investment Association

Note: The information in this article is for reference only and does not represent the view of the World Platinum Investment Association. It does not constitute or should not be considered as the investment advice of the World Platinum Investment Association.

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