Towards the selectivity distinction of phenol hydrogenation on noble metal catalysts

Selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone is intriguing in chemical industry.Though a few catalysts with promising performances have been developed in recent years,the basic principle for catalyst design is still missing owing to the unclear catalytic mechanism.This work tries to unravel the mechanism of phenol hydro-genation and the reasons causing the selectivity discrepancy on noble metal catalysts under mild conditions.Results show that different reaction pathways always firstly converge to the formation of cyclohexanone under mild conditions.The selectivity discrepancy mainly depends on the activity for cyclohexanone sequential hy-drogenation,in which two factors are found to be responsible,i.e.the hydrogenation energy barrier and the competitive chemisorption between phenol and cyclohexanone,if the specific co-catalyzing effect of H 2 O on Ru is not considered.Based on the above results,a quantitative descriptor,E b(one/pl)/E a,in which E a can be further correlated to the d band center of the noble metal catalyst,is proposed by the first time to roughly evaluate and predict the selectivity to cyclohexanone for catalyst screening.

SULFUR-RESISTANT BIMETALLIC NOBLE METAL CATALYSTS FOR AROMATIC HYDROGENATION OF DIESEL FUEL

Y zeolite supporting noble metal catalysts, as the important industrial catalysts for aromatics hydrogenation, have received increasing attention in recent years. Pd M/Y bimetallic catalysts, where M is non noble metal element, were prepared to investigate the effects of the addition of a second metal. Pd M/Y catalysts were evaluated under the following conditions: H 2 pressure 4.2 MPa, MHSV 4.0 h -1 , sulfur content in feed 3000 μg/g. The microreactor results indicated that the second metal remarkably affects the hydrogenation activity of Pd/Y catalysts. Among them, Cr and W improve the sulfur resistance of Pd/Y, but La, Mn, Mo and Ag make the sulfur resistance worse and the second metals have no evident influence on product selectivity and acidic properties of the catalysts.

Metal-based cathode catalysts for electrocatalytic ORR in microbial fuel cells:A review

Microbial fuel cells(MFCs)have a simple structure and excellent pollutant treatment and power generation performance.However,the slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)at the MFC cathode limit power generation.The electrochemical performance of MFCs can be improved through electrocatalysis.Thus far,metal-based catalysts have shown astonishing results in the field of electrocatalysis,enabling MFC devices to demonstrate power generation capabilities comparable to those of Pt,thus showing enormous potential.This article reviews the research progress of meta-based MFC cathode ORR catalysts,including the ORR reaction mechanism of MFC,different types of catalysts,and preparation strategies.The catalytic effects of different catalysts in MFC are compared and summarized.Before discussing the practical application and expanded manufacturing of catalysts,we summarize the key challenges that must be addressed when using metal-based catalysts in MFC,with the aim of providing a scientific direction for the future development of advanced materials.

Metal-support interactions in designing noble metal-based catalysts for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction: Recent advances and future perspectives

Electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction (CO_(2) RR) offers a practical solution to current global greenhouse effect by converting excessive CO_(2) into value-added chemicals or fuels. Noble metal-based nanomaterials have been considered as efficient catalysts for the CO_(2) RR owing to their high catalytic activity, long-term stability and superior selectivity to targeted products. On the other hand, they are usually loaded on different support materials in order to minimize their usage and maximize the utilization because of high price and limited reserve. The strong metal-support interaction (MSI) between the metal and substrate plays an important role in affecting the CO_(2) RR performance. In this review, we mainly focus on different types of support materials (e.g., oxides, carbons, ligands, alloys and metal carbides) interacting with noble metal as electrocatalysts for CO_(2) RR. Moreover, the positive effects about MSI for boosting the CO_(2) RR performance via regulating the adsorption strength, electronic structure, coordination environment and binding energy are presented. Lastly, emerging challenges and future opportunities on noble metal electrocatalysts with strong MSI are discussed.

Catalytic ozonation of volatile organic compounds(ethyl acetate)at normal temperature

Catalytic treatments of VOCs at normal temperature can greatly reduce the cost and temperature of processing,and improve the safety factor in line with the requirements of green chemistry.Activated carbon fiber(ACF)was pretreated with 10%H_(2)SO_(4)by single factor optimization to increase specific surface area and pore volume obviously.The catalytic ozonation performance of ACF loaded with Au,Ag,Pt and Pd noble metals on ethyl acetate was investigated and Pd/ACF was selected as the optimal catalyst which had certain stability.Pd is uniformly distributed on the surface of ACF,and Palladium mainly exists in the form of Pd0 with a amount of Pd+2.The specific surface area of the catalysts gradually decreases as the loading increases.The activation energy of ethyl acetate calculated by Arrhenius equation is 113 kJ mol 1.With 1%Pd loading and the concentration ratio of ozone to ethyl acetate is 3:1,catalytic ozonation performance is maximized and the conversion rate of ethyl acetate reached to 60%in 3050℃Cat 15,00030,000 h^1.

Rare earth oxides and their supported noble metals in application of environmental catalysis

Volatile organic compounds(VOCs),methane,carbon monoxide,soot,automotive exhaust,and nitrogen oxides are harmful to the atmosphere and human health.It is urgent to strictly control their emissions.Heterogeneous catalysis is an effective pathway for the removal of these pollutants,and the critical issue is the development of novel and high-performance catalysts.In this review,we briefly summarize the preparation methods,physicochemical properties,catalytic activities,and related reaction mechanisms for the above pollutants removal of the rare earth oxides,mixed rare earth oxide,rare earth oxidesupported noble metal,and mixed rare earth oxide-supported noble metal catalysts that have been investigated by our group and other researchers.It was found that catalytic performance was associated with the factors,such as specific surface area,pore structure,particle size and dispersion,adsorbed oxygen species concentration,reducibility,reactant activation ability or interaction between metal nanoparticles and support.Furthermore,we also envision the development trend of such a topic in future work.

Noble metal nanoclusters and their in situ calcination to nanocrystals： Precise control of their size and interface with Ti02 nanosheets and their versatile catalysis applications

In this work, we present a new versatile strategy to prepare noble metal （Au, Ag and Cu） nanoclusters on TiO2 nanosheets in large scales with exposed （001） facets with controlled size, crystalline interface, and loading amount. By precise in situ calcination, the metal （M = Au, Ag, and Cu） nanocrystals with controllable size and better crystalline interface with the TiO2 support have been prepared. The potential application of the as-prepared Au, Ag, and Cu nanoclusters on TiO2 nanosheets as potential heterogeneous catalysts for organic synthesis, such as catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol, has been demonstrated. After calcination, Au, Ag, and Cu nanocrystals were found to be proficient cocatalysts for photocatalytic H2 evolution, particularly the Au cocatalyst. Based on precise high-resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry （ICP-OES） analyses, the flexible control of their size and loading amount as well as their intimate contact with the TiO2 nanosheet enhanced the photocatalytic H2 evolution activity and the sensitivity of the photocurrent response of the film. Furthermore, this aqueous-directed synthesis of metal nanoclusters on a support will generate further interest in the field of nanocatalysis.

Tungsten oxide-anchored Ru clusters with electron-rich and anti-corrosive microenvironments for efficient and robust seawater splitting

Ruthenium(Ru)has been recognized as a prospective candidate to substitute platinum catalysts in water-splitting-based hydrogen production.However,minimizing the Ru contents,optimizing the water dissociation energy of Ru sites,and enhancing the long-term stability are extremely required,but still face a great challenge.Here,we report on creating tungsten oxide-anchored Ru clusters(Ru-WO_(x))with electron-rich and anti-corrosive microenvironments for efficient and robust seawater splitting.Benefiting from the abundant oxygen vacancy structure in tungsten oxide support,the Ru-WO_(x)exhibits strong Ru-O and Ru-W bonds at the interface.Our study elucidates that the strong Ru-O bonds in Ru-WO_(x)may accelerate the water dissociation kinetics,and the Ru-W bonds will lead to the strong metal-support interaction and electrons transfer fromWto Ru.The optimal Ru-WO_(x)catalysts exhibit a low overpotential of 29 and 218mVat the current density of 10 mA cm^(−2) in alkaline and seawater media,respectively.The outstanding long-term stability discloses that the Ru-WO_(x)catalysts own efficient corrosion resistance in seawater electrolysis.We believe that thiswork offers new insights into the essential roles of electron-rich and anti-corrosivemicroenvironments in Ru-based catalysts and provide a new pathway to design efficient and robust cathodes for seawater splitting.

Mo-modified Pd/Al_2O_3 catalysts for benzene catalytic combustion

Mo-modified Pd/Al2O3catalysts were prepared by an impregnation method and tested for the catalytic combustion of benzene. The catalysts were characterized by N2 isothermal adsorption, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, temperatureprogrammed desorption of NH3（NH3-TPD）, H2temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR）, and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy（HAADF-STEM）. The results showed that the addition of Mo effectively improved the activity and stability of the Pd/Al2O3catalyst by increasing the dispersion of Pd active components, changing the partial oxidation state of palladium and increasing the oxygen species concentration on the surface of catalyst. In the case of the Pd-Mo/Al2O3catalyst,benzene conversion of 90% was obtained at temperatures as low as 190°C, which was 45°C lower than that for similar performance with the Pd/Al2O3catalyst. Moreover, the 1.0% Pd-5% Mo/Al2O3catalyst was more active than the 2.0% Pd/Al2O3catalyst. It was concluded that Pd and Mo have a synergistic effect in benzene catalytic combustion.