Mechanism investigation and catalyst screening of high-temperature reverse water gas shift reaction

Reverse water gas shift(RWGS)catalysis,a prominent technology for converting CO2 to CO,is emerging to meet the growing demand of global environment.However,the fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanism is hindered by the complex nature of the reaction.Herein,microkinetic modeling of RWGS on different metals(i.e.,Co,Ru,Fe,Ni,Cu,Rh,Pd,and Pt)was performed based on the DFT results to provide the mechanistic insights and achieve the catalyst screening.Adsorption energies of the carbon-based species and the oxygen-based species can be correlated to the adsorption energy of carbon and oxygen,respectively.Moreover,oxygen adsorption energy is an excellent descriptor for the barrier of CO2 and CO direct dissociation and the difference in reaction barrier between CO2(or CO)dissociation and hydrogenation.The reaction mechanism varies on various metals.Direct CO2 dissociation is the dominating route on Co,Fe,Ru,Rh,Cu,and Ni,while it competes with the COOH-mediated path on Pt and Pd surface.The eights metals can be divided into two groups based on the degree of rate control analysis for CO production,where CO–O bond cleavage is rate relevant on Pt,Pd,and Cu,and OH–H binding is rate-controlling on Co,Fe,Ru,Ni,and Rh.Both CO-direct dissociation and hydrogen-assisted route to CH4 contribute to the methane formation on Co,Fe,Pt,Pd,Ru,and Rh,despite the significant barrier difference between the two routes.Besides,the specific rate-relevant transition states and intermediates are suggested for methane formation,and thus,the selectivity can be tuned by adjusting the energy.The descriptor(C-and O-formation energy)based microkinetic modeling proposed that the activity trend is Rh~Ni>Pt~Pd>Cu>Co>Ru>Fe,where Fe,Co,Ru,and Ni tends to be oxidized.The predicted activity trend is well consistent with those obtained experimentally.The interpolation concept of adsorption energy was used to identify bimetallic materials for highly active catalysts for RWGS.

Computational design of heterogeneous catalysts and gas separation materials for advanced chemical processing

Functional materials are widely used in chemical industry in order to reduce the process cost while simultaneously increase the product quality.Considering their significant effects,systematic methods for the optimal selection and design of materials are essential.The conventional synthesis-and-test method for materials development is inefficient and costly.Additionally,the performance of the resulting materials is usually limited by the designer’s expertise.During the past few decades,computational methods have been significantly developed and they now become a very important tool for the optimal design of functional materials for various chemical processes.This article selectively focuses on two important process functional materials,namely heterogeneous catalyst and gas separation agent.Theoretical methods and representative works for computational screening and design of these materials are reviewed.

A Simple Mechanism for Generating a Geomagnetic Field

On the basis of the ideal gas model, the polarization of charges in the mantle was obtained, a physical and mathematical model was constructed, and estimated calculations of the dipole mode of the Earth’s magnetic field were performed, taking into account the speed of its angular rotation, the parameters of density and temperature, the chemical composition, the ionization potential, the dielectric constant and the percentage of the main chemical compounds of the mantle substance.