Engineering morphologies of yttrium oxide supported nickel catalysts for hydrogen production

The catalytic performance is highly related to the catalyst structure.Herein,a series of Ni nanoparticles supported on Y_(2)O_(3) with different morphologies were successfully synthesized via hydrothermal process screening different pH environments.These Ni/Y_(2)O_(3)catalysts were applied to efficiently produce CO_(x)-free H2through ammonia decomposition.We identify a significant impact of Y_(2)O_(3)supports on nickel nanoclusters sizes and dispersion.The experimental results show that Ni/Y11 catalyst achieves 100% ammonia decomposition conversion under a gas hour space velocity(GHSV) of 12,000 ml·h^(-1)·gcat^(-1) and temperature of 650℃.Such a high level of activity over Ni/Y11 catalyst was attributed to a large specific surface area,appropriate alkalinity,and small Ni nanoparticles diameter with high dispersion.

Mechanism and catalytic performance for direct dimethyl ether synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation over CuZnZr/ferrierite hybrid catalyst

Direct synthesis of dimethyl ether(DME)by CO2 hydrogenation has been investigated over three hybrid catalysts prepared by different methods:co-precipitation,sol-gel,and solid grinding to produce mixed Cu,ZnO,ZrO2 catalysts that were physically mixed with a commercial ferrierite(FER)zeolite.The catalysts were characterized by N2 physisorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),temperature programmed desorption of CO2(CO2-TPD),temperature programmed desorption of NH3(NH3-TPD),and temperature programmed H2 reduction(H2-TPR).The results demonstrate that smaller CuO and Cu crystallite sizes resulting in better dispersion of the active phases,higher surface area,and lower reduction temperature are all favorable for catalytic activity.The reaction mechanism has been studied using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(DRIFTS).Methanol appears to be formed via the bidentate-formate(b-HCOO)species undergoing stepwise hydrogenation,while DME formation occurs from methanol dehydration and reaction of two surface methoxy groups.

Non-spherical abrasives with ordered mesoporous structures for chemical mechanical polishing

The chemical mechanical polishing(CMP)technology has been widely used for surface modification of critical materials and components with high quality and efficiency.In a typical CMP process,the mechanical properties of abrasives play a vital role in obtaining the ultra-precision and damage-free surface of wafers for improvement of their performances.In this work,a series of fine structured rod-shaped silica(RmSiO2)-based abrasives with controllable sizes and diverse ordered mesoporous structures were synthesized via a soft template approach,and successfully applied in the sustainable polishing slurry for improving the surface quality of cadmium zinc telluride(CZT)wafers.Compared with commercial silica gel,solid and mesoporous silica spheres,the RmSiO2 abrasives present superior elastic deformation capacity and surface precision machinability on account of their mesoporous structures and rod shapes.Especially,ultra-precision surface roughness and relatively effective material removal speed were achieved by the CMP process using the RmSiO2 abrasives with a length/diameter(L/d)ratio of 1.In addition,a potential CMP mechanism of the developed polishing slurry to CZT wafer was elucidated by analyzing X-ray photoelectron spectra and other characterizations.The proposed interfacial chemical and mechanical effects will provide a new strategy for improving abrasives’machinability and precision manufacture of hard-to-machine materials.