Synthesizing active and durable cubic ceria catalysts(<6 nm)for fast dehydrogenation of bio-polyols to carboxylic acids coproducing green H_(2)

Dehydrogenation is considered as one of the most important industrial applications for renewable energy.Cubic ceria-based catalysts are known to display promising dehydrogenation performances in this area.Large particle size(>20 nm)and less surface defects,however,hinder further application of ceria materials.Herein,an alternative strategy involving lactic acid(LA)assisted hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize active,selective and durable cubic ceria of<6 nm for dehydrogenation reactions.Detailed studies of growth mechanism revealed that,the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups in LA molecule synergistically manipulate the morphological evolution of ceria precursors.Carboxyl groups determine the cubic shape and particle size,while hydroxyl groups promote compositional transformation of ceria precursors into CeO_(2) phases.Moreover,enhanced oxygen vacancies(Vo)on the surface of CeO_(2) were obtained owing to continuous removal of O species under reductive atmosphere.Cubic CeO_(2) catalysts synthesized by the LA-assisted method,immobilized with bimetallic PtCo clusters,exhibit a record high activity(TOF:29,241 h^(-1))and Vo-dependent synergism for dehydrogenation of bio-derived polyols at 200℃.We also found that quenching Vo defects at air atmosphere causes activity loss of PtCo/CeO_(2) catalysts.To regenerate Vo defects,a simple strategy was developed by irradiating deactivated catalysts using hernia lamp.The outcome of this work will provide new insights into manufacturing durable catalyst materials for aqueous phase dehydrogenation applications.

Pd^(0)-O v-Ce^(3+) Interfacial Sites with Charge Redistribution for Enhanced Hydrogenation of Methyl Oleate to Methyl Stearate

Improving the efficiency of metal/reducible metal oxide interfacial sites for hydrogenation reactions of unsaturated groups(e.g.,C=C and C=O)is a promising yet challenging endeavor.In our study,we developed a Pd/CeO_(2) catalyst by enhancing the oxygen vacancy(O V)concentration in CeO_(2) through high-temperature treatment.This process led to the formation of an interface structure ideal for supporting the hydrogenation of methyl oleate to methyl stearate.Specifi cally,metal Pd^(0) atoms bonded to the O V in defective CeO_(2) formed Pd^(0)-O v-Ce^(3+)interfacial sites,enabling strong electron transfer from CeO_(2) to Pd.The interfacial sites exhibit a synergistic adsorption eff ect on the reaction substrate.Pd^(0) sites promote the adsorption and activation of C=C bonds,while O V preferably adsorbs C=O bonds,mitigating competition with C=C bonds for Pd^(0) adsorption sites.This synergy ensures rapid C=C bond activation and accelerates the attack of active H*species on the semi-hydrogenated intermediate.As a result,our Pd/CeO_(2)-500 catalyst,enriched with Pd^(0)-O v-Ce^(3+)interfacial sites,dem-onstrated excellent hydrogenation activity at just 30℃.The catalyst achieved a Cis-C18:1 conversion rate of 99.8% and a methyl stearate formation rate of 5.7 mol/(h·g metal).This work revealed the interfacial sites for enhanced hydrogenation reactions and provided ideas for designing highly active hydrogenation catalysts.

配位不饱和Au-O-Ti^(3+)活性位点的构建及其在低温丙烯气相环氧化反应中强化氢气效率的研究

自1998年以来,人们广泛认为Au/Ti基催化剂的Au-O-Ti^(4+)位点是在相对高温条件下丙烯气相环氧化反应的活性位点,但该类催化剂的H_(2)有效利用率普遍较低。本工作发现了一种在相对低温条件下丙烯气相环氧化反应的新活性位点Au-O-Ti^(3+)。值得注意的是,该活性位点主导反应时,最佳温度可从200℃显著降低至138℃,并使催化剂保持前所未有的43.6%的H_(2)有效利用率、90.7%的环氧丙烷(PO)选择性和超过100 h的稳定性。本工作通过调整处理后S-1晶种中Si-OH和Bu3NH+的量,定量构建了Au-O-Ti^(3+)活性位点。并且利用原位紫外-可见光谱(operando UV-vis)技术研究了Ti-OOH反应中间体的动态演化过程,结果表明,在Au-O-Ti^(3+)活性位点上的Ti-OOH的生成速率比在Au-O-Ti^(4+)活性位点上的明显增高。此外,氨程序升温脱附(NH3-TPD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)表征以及密度泛函数理论(DFT)计算表明,在相对低温条件下,Au-O-Ti^(3+)活性位点中配位不饱和Ti^(3+)位点促进了Au和Ti^(3+)之间的电子转移,从而增强了催化剂对O_(2)的吸附能力,有效促进H_(2)O_(2)的原位生成,并进一步促进活性中间体Ti-OOH的形成。本工作所报道的结果为强化丙烯直接气相环氧化反应的H_(2)有效利用率提供了新的思路,而且为低温下丙烯直接气相环氧化反应的工业化推进开辟了新的机会。

Conceptual carbon-reduction process design and quantitative sustainable assessment for concentrating high purity ethylene from wasted refinery gas

The direct emission of waste refinery gas after combustion will cause a severe greenhouse effect.Recovering high-value-added ethylene from wasted refinery gas has fundamental economic and environmental significance. Due to the complexity of the composition of refinery waste gas, designing and optimizing the whole recovery process is still a challenging task. Herein, a novel process(SCOAS) was proposed to obtain polymer-grade ethylene from wasted refinery gas through a direct separation process,and heat pump-assisted thermal integration optimization(HPSCOAS) was carried out. The unique feature of the novel approach is that a new stripper and ethylene reabsorber follow the dry gas absorber to ensure ethylene recovery and methane content. An industrial model, shallow cooling oil absorption(SCOA), and concentration combined cold separation system of ethylene unit using wasted refinery gas was established to analyze the technology and environment. Based on the detailed process modeling and simulation results, the quantitative sustainability assessment of economy and environment based on product life cycle process is carried out. The results show that compared with the traditional process when the same product is obtained, the total annual cost of the HPSCOAS process is the lowest, which is 15.4% lower than that of the SCOA process and 6.1% lower than that of the SCOAS process. In addition,compared with the SCOA process and the HPSCOAS process, the SCOAS process has more environmental advantages. The non-renewable energy consumed by SCOAS is reduced by about 24.8% and 6.1%, respectively. The CO_(2) equivalent is reduced by about 38.6% and 23.7%.

Hydrothermal conversion of fructose to lactic acid and derivatives:Synergies of metal and acid/base catalysts

With increasing strict regulation on single-use plastics,lactic acid(LA)and alkyl lactates,as essential monomers for bio-degradable polylactic acid(PLA)plastic products,have gained worldwide attention in both academia and industry.While LA is still dominantly produced through fermentation processes from start,chemical synthesis from cellulosic biomass remains a grand challenge,owing to poor selectivity in activating CAH and CAC bonds in sugar molecules.To our best knowledge,recent publications have been focused on hydrothermal conversion of glucose to LA,while this review summarizes the highlights on direct thermal conversion of fructose as starting material to LA and derivatives.In particular,the synergies of metal/metal cations and acid/base catalysts will be critically revised on retro-aldol and dehydration reactions.This work will provide insights into rational design of active and selective catalysts for the production of carboxylic acids from biomass feedstocks.

Hierarchical ZSM-11 with intergrowth structures:Synthesis,characterization and catalytic properties

Hierarchical ZSM-11 microspheres with intercrystalline mesoporous properties and rod-like crystals intergrowth morphology have been synthesized using a spot of tetrabutylammonium as a single template.XRD,FTIR,SEM,TEM and N2 adsorption analysis revealed that each individual particle was composed of nanosized rod crystals inserting each other and the intercrystalline voids existing among rods gave a significant mesopore size distribution.Steam treatment result demonstrated the excellent hydrothermal stability of samples.Various crystallization modes including constant temperature crystallization (one-stage crystallization) and two-stage temperature-varying crystallization with different 1st stage durations were investigated.The results suggested that the crystallization modes were mainly responsible for the adjustable particle size and textural properties of samples while the small amount of tetrabutylammonium bromide was mainly used to direct the formation of both ZSM-11 framework and its intergrowth morphology.Furthermore,the performance of optimal ZSM-11 as an active component for the catalytic pyrolysis of heavy oil was also investigated.Compared with the commercial pyrolysis catalyst,the hierarchical ZSM-11 catalyst exhibited a high selectivity to desired products(LPG+gasoline+diesel),as well as a much lower dry gas and coke yield,plus a high selectivity and yield of light olefins(C=3 C=4)and very poor selectivity to benzene.Therefore,fully open micropore-mesopore connectivity would make such hierarchically porous ZSM-11 zeolites very attractive for applications in clean petrochemical catalysis field.

The correlation between nitrogen species in coke and NO_x formation during regeneration

Nitrogen oxides （NOx） emission during the regeneration ofcoked fluid catalytic cracking （FCC） catalysts is an en- vironmental issue. In order to identify the correlations between nitrogen species in coke and different nitrogen- containing products in tail gas, three coked catalysts with multilayer structural coke molecules were prepared in a fixed bed with model compounds （o-xylene and quinoline） at first. A series of characterization methods were used to analyze coke, including elemental analysis, FT-IR, XPS, and TG-MS. XPS characterization indicates all coked catalysts present two types of nitrogen species and the type with a higher binding energy is related with the inner part nitrogen atoms interacting with acid sites. Due to the stronger adsorption ability on acid sites for basic nitrogen compounds, the multilayer structural coke has unbalanced distribution of carbon and ni- trogen atoms between the inner part and the outer edge, which strongly affects gas product formation. At the early stage of regeneration, oxidation starts from the outer edge and the product NO can be reduced to N2 in high CO concentration. At the later stage, the inner part rich in nitrogen begins to be exposed to 02. At this period, the formation of CO decreases due to lack of carbon atoms, which is not beneficial to the reduction of NO. There- fore, nitrogen species in the inner part of multilayer structural coke contributes more to NOx formation. Based on the multilayer structure model of coke molecule and its oxidation behavior, a possible strategy to control NOx emission was discussed merely from concept.

Regulating catalyst morphology to boost the stability of Ni–Mo/Al_(2)O_(3) catalyst for ebullated-bed residue hydrotreating

Hydrotreating of vacuum residue by ebullated-bed shows tremendous significance due to more stringent environmental regulations and growing demand for lighter fuels. However, enhancing the catalyst stability still remains as a challenging task. Herein, two Ni–Mo/Al_(2)O_(3) catalysts with distinct morphologies(i.e., spherical and cylindrical) were first designed, and the morphology effect on deactivation was systematically elucidated employing multi-characterizations, such as HRTEM with EDX mapping, electron microprobe analysis, FT-IR, TGA and Raman. It is found that spherical catalyst exhibits superior hydrotreating stability over 1600 h. The carbonaceous deposits on spherical catalyst with less graphite structure are lighter, and the coke weight is also smaller. In addition, the metal deposits uniformly distribute in the spherical catalyst, which is better than the concentrated distribution near the pore mouth for the cylindrical catalyst. Furthermore, the intrinsic reason for the differences was analyzed by the bed expansion experiment. Higher bed expansion rate together with the better mass transfer ability leads to the enhanced performance. This work sheds new light on the design of more efficient industrial hydrotreating catalyst based on morphology effect.

Synergistic effect of W and P on ZSM-5 and its catalytic performance in the cracking of heavy oil

In order to develop the conversion of heavy oil with a high yield of propylene in the catalytic cracking process, ZSM-5 zeolite was modified by tungsten and phosphorus, which was proved to be an effective method. Characterization results show that the improvement of catalytic performance could be correlated to the interaction of phosphorus and tungsten species on ZSM-5. P inhibited the aggregation of tungsten species on ZSM-5 and was conductive to convert the tungsten species with octahedral coordination into tetrahedral coordination. And this ultimately led to that more acid sites were reserved after hydrothermal treatment in the tungsten and phosphorus co-modified ZSM-5 catalyst. Phosphorus species played an important role to restrain the dehydrogenation activity of tungsten. In addition, a model reflecting the interaction between tungsten species and ZSM-5 framework was proposed.

A high-surface-area silicoaluminophosphate material rich in Brnsted acid sites as a matrix in catalytic cracking

A transparent gel-like mesoporous silicoaluminophosphate material （SAP） with molar ratio of Si/Al = 20 was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The physicochemical features of SAP were characterized by XRD, XRF, BET, SEM and FT-IR spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption techniques. The results indicated that incorporation of phosphorus （P） into aluminasilica system altered the basic textural characteristics of aluminasilica. Especially after hydrothermal treatment, the material with large special surface area （up to 492 m2/g） exhibited a good performance on hydrothermal stability. Moreover, the phosphorus modifier can not only increase the amount of Br／＂{o}nsted acidic sites （up to 48.44 μmol/g） and the percentage of weak acidic sites in total acidic sites, but also regulate the acid type, such as the ratio of B/L （Lewis acid/Br？nsted acid） increased to 1.15. The performances of samples as matrices for the catalytic cracking of heavy VGO were investigated. At 520 ℃, the catalysts showed much higher gasoline and diesel oil yields achieving to 45.59 wt% and 19.20 wt%, respectively, and lower coke selectivity （2.86%） than conventional FCC matrices, such as kaolin and amorphous silica-alumina.

Effect of acid density of HZSM-5 on the oligomerization of ethylene in FCC dry gas

The oligomerization of ethylene in FCC dry gas over HZSM-5 catalyst with different Si/A12 ratios was studied. The effect of acid density of catalyst on the oligomerization of ethylene was discussed. By increasing the acid density of catalyst, ethylene conversion showed a linear increase, while the yields of olefins decreased when the acid density of catalyst exceeded 0.14mmolNH3/g owing to a promotion of hydrogen transfer reaction. Through comparing the average distance between acid sites on catalyst with kinetic diameters of olefins, it was found that the dimerization of ethylene was not restrained by the sparse distribution of acid sites, while the hydrogen transfer reaction of C3 and C4 olefins was limited. On these bases, a conclusion is proposed that the dimerization of ethylene proceeded via Eley-Rideal mechanism, while the hydrogen transfer reaction of C3 and C4 olefins followed the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism.

Engineering three-layer core–shell S-1/TS-1@dendritic-SiO_(2) supported Au catalysts towards improved performance for propene epoxidation with H_(2) and O_(2)

The advocacy of green chemical industry has led to the development of highly efficient catalysts for direct gas-phase propene epoxidation with green,sustainable and simple essence.The S-1/TS-1@dendritic-SiO_(2) material with three-layer core–shell structure was developed and used as the support for Au catalysts,which showed simultaneously fantastic PO formation rate,PO selectivity and stability(over 100 h)for propene epoxidation with H_(2) and O_(2).It is found that silicalite-1(S-1)core and the middle thin layer of TS-1 offer great mass transfer ability,which could be responsible for the excellent stability.The designed dendritic SiO_(2) shell covers part of the acid sites on the external surface of TS-1,inhibiting the side reactions and improving the PO selectivity.Furthermore,three kinds of SiO_(2) shell morphologies(i.e.,dendritic,net,mesoporous shell)were designed,and relationship between shell morphology and catalytic performance was elucidated.The results in this paper harbour tremendous guiding significance for the design of highly efficient epoxidation catalysts.

Enhancing the dynamic electron transfer of Au species on wormhole-like TS-1 for boosting propene epoxidation performance with H_(2) and O_(2)

Engineering unique electronic structure of catalyst to boost catalytic performance is of prime scientific and industrial importance.Herein,the identification of intrinsic electronic sensitivity for direct propene epoxidation was first achieved over highly stable Au/wormhole-like TS-1 catalyst.Results show that the electron transfer of Au species can be regulated by manipulating the dynamic evolutions and contents of Au valence states,thus resulting in different catalytic performance in 100 h time-on-stream.By DFT calculations,kinetic analysis and multicharacterizations,it is found that the Au^(0) species with higher electronic population can easily transfer more electrons to activate surface O_(2) compared with Au^(1+) and Au^(3+) species.Moreover,there is a positive correlation between Au^(0) content and activity.Based on this correlation,a facile strategy is further proposed to boost Au^(0) percentage,resulting in the reported highest PO formation rate without adding promoters.This work harbors tremendous guiding significance to the design of highly efficient Au/Ti-containing catalyst for propene epoxidation with H_(2) and O_(2).

Selective propylene epoxidation in liquid phase using highly dispersed Nb catalysts incorporated in mesoporous silicates

Selective propylene epoxidation to propylene oxide(PO) with hydrogen peroxide(H_2O_2) was carried out in a catalytic semi-batch reactor.High propylene epoxidation activity(44 h^(-1)) was observed over Nb based mesoporous silicate materials Nb-TUD-1 under mild operating conditions.The physical and chemical properties of the Nb based silicates characterized using BET,FTIR,TPD,TEM and UV–Vis revealed that the site isolation and surface acidity are crucial for PO production.Catalyst synthesis methods were investigated for their effects on PO productivity,PO selectivity and H_2O_2 utilization efficiency.It is found that Nb-TUD-1 material synthesized by the sol–gel method is more active and selective than impregnated materials for liquid phase propylene epoxidation.Surface characterization confirms that thus synthesized Nb-TUD-1 catalysts have more Lewis acidity and less Bronsted acidity compared to the catalysts by impregnation.

Studies on the preliminary cracking: The reasons why matrix catalytic function is indispensable for the catalytic cracking of feed with large molecular size

The matrix catalytic function when cracking the feed oil with large molecular size was systematically studied using three different catalyst configurations, including staged bed, partly mixed bed and completely mixed bed. Results showed that molecules in the feed oil with large molecular size indeed preferred to be first precracked on the matrix surface and then entered into the zeolite pores during the practical reaction process. Furthermore, the matrix catalytic function exhibited a great matrix-precracking ability to large feed molecules, which considerably increased the catalyst activity and the light oil selectivity. Besides the much better accessibility, the matrix-precracking ability was also from the similar capability to crack large feed hydrocarbons into the moderate fragments with that of the zeolite component. More interestingly, the interactions between the matrix catalytic function and the zeolite catalytic function made the catalyst not only exhibit much more catalytic advantages of the zeolite component, but also retain the matrix-precracking ability. As a result, the interactions enhanced the catalyst activity and improved the product distribution at the same time. The matrix catalytic function is indispensable for the catalytic cracking of feed with large molecular size, although the matrix component itself presented an inferior catalytic performance than the zeolite component did. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Insights into the confinement effect on isobutane alkylation with C_(4) olefin catalyzed by zeolite catalyst:A combined theoretical and experimental study

Elucidating the confinement effect harbours tremendous significance for isobutane alkylation with C_(4) olefin.Herein,the confinement effect over zeolite catalysts was elucidated by combining DFT calculations,experiments(using the novel Beta zeolite exposing only external surfaces(Beta-E)and conventional Beta-I zeolite with both external and internal surfaces)and multi-techniques(e.g.,TGA-DTG,HRTEM,SEM and XRD).It is found that the main active sites for C_(4) alkylation reaction are located on internal surface rather than external surface.On the external surface,the hydride transfer reaction does not occur because the H-shared intermediate cannot be formed without the confinement effect.Moreover,the external surface has stronger selectivity for C_(4) olefin adsorption than isobutane,leading to enhanced oligomerization reactions.Therefore,the suitable micropore with confinement effect is essential for zeolite-catalyzed C_(4) alkylation.The atomic-scale insights of this work are of great referential importance to the design of highly effective zeolite catalyst.

Engineering the efficient three-dimension hollow cubic carbon from vacuum residuum with enhanced mass transfer ability towards H2O2 production

Constructing efficient carbon material with enhanced mass transfer ability from vacuum residuum(VR)is of prime industrial and scientific significance.Herein,we demonstrated a one-pot synthesis of metal-free and highly symmetric hollow carbon cubes(HCCs)using cost-efficient vacuum residuum(VR)as a C/N/S source.By multi-techniques such as TEM,SEM,Raman,XPS,and XRD,it is found that the CTAB surfactant plays an important role in emulsifying and forming oil-in-water suspension particles.Subsequently,high aromatics contents in VR favor the formation of HCCs shell by graphitization on the surface of Na Cl template.Notably,heavy metals(e.g.,V,Ni)are not enriched in carbon skeleton due to the unique graphitization mechanism.This metal-free HCCs catalyst showed good catalytic stability and high selectivity towards direct and local electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))through two-electron O_(2)reduction due to enhanced mass transfer ability.The results provide a novel avenue to synthesize metal-free cubic carbon material from low-cost and plentiful VR,which are essential to the design of more efficient catalysts for O_(2)reduction to H_(2)O_(2).

Morphology effect on catalytic performance of ebullated-bed residue hydrotreating over Ni-Mo/Al_(2)O_(3)catalyst:a kinetic modeling study

Upgrading of vacuum residue is of prime industrial significance due to the increasing demand for light oils.Elucidating the effect of catalyst morphology on vacuum residue hydrotreating performance by kinetic modeling is therefore of great importance.Herein,kinetic analysis of hydrodemetallization(HDM)and hydrodeconradsoncarbon-residue(HDCCR)performances on industrial Ni-Mo/Al_(2)O_(3)catalysts with spherical and cylindrical morphologies in ebullated-bed were evaluated for more than 1600 h.It was found that the percentage of light impurities easier to be removed on spherical catalysts were 78.20%and 39.43%in HDM and HDCCR reactions,respectively,higher than 65.20%and 17.50%on cylindrical catalysts.This suggests that catalyst morphology affects the impurity removal ability and the impurity properties,resulting in better hydrotreating performance of spherical catalysts.This work not only combines catalyst morphology with impurity removal capability through kinetic modeling,but also provides new insights into the design of efficient hydrotreating catalysts.

Free radicals induced ultra-rapid synthesis of N-doped carbon sphere catalyst with boosted pyrrolic N active sites for efficient acetylene hydrochlorination

Activated carbon-supported HgCl2 catalysts have seriously impeded the development of the polyvinyl chloride(PVC)industry due to the sublimation of Hg species and environmental pollution problems.Herein,the template-free and organic solvent-free strategy was devised to synthesize non-metallic based nitrogen-doped carbon(U-NC)sphere catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.This green strategy via ultrasonic chemistry initiates resin crosslinking reactions between aminophenol and formaldehyde resin by free radicals,leading to the ultra-rapid formation of U-NC with remarkably high pyrrolic N content in only 5 min.This U-NC catalyst exhibited an outstanding space-time-yield(1.6 gVCM·gcat^(−1)·h^(−1)),even comparable to the reported metallic catalyst.By combining kinetic analysis,advanced characterizations,density functional theory,it is found that the amount of pyrrolic N is in linear with C_(2)H_(2)conversion,pyrrolic N in U-NC can effectively improve acetylene hydrochlorination performance by mediating HCl adsorption.This work sheds new light on rationally constructing metal-free catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination.

Validation of surface coating with nanoparticles to improve the flowability of fine cohesive powders

Fluidization of fine cohesive powders is seriously restricted by the strong interparticle cohesion. The rational combination of nanoparticles with fine cohesive powders is expected to obtain composite par- ticles with improved flowability. In this work, we firstly reviewed the sandwich and three-point contact models regarding the fundamental principles of nano-additives in reducing cohesiveness. Based on these previous models, the effects of the size of nanoparticles, their agglomeration and coverage on the surface of cohesive powders in reducing interparticle forces were theoretically analyzed. To validate the the- ory effectiveness for the irregularly shaped cohesive powders, an extreme case of cubic powders coated with silica nanoparticles was fabricated, and the flowability of the composite particles was determined experimentally. Ultimately, based oN force balance of a single particle, a semi-theoretical criterion for predicting the fluidization behavior of coated powders was developed to guide the practical applications of improving the flowability of cohesive powders through structural design and modulation.