Zr（Ⅳ） surface sites determine CH3OH formation rate on Cu/ZrO2/SiO2-CO2 hydrogenation catalysts

Cu/ZrO2/SiO2 are efficient catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of CO2 to CH3OH. In order to understand the role of ZrO2 in these mixed-oxides based catalysts, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been carried out on the Cu and Zr K-edge. Under reaction conditions, Cu remains metallic, while Zr is present in three types of coordination environment associated with 1) bulk ZrO2, 2) coordinatively saturated and 3) unsaturated Zr(Ⅳ) surface sites. The amount of coordinatively unsaturated Zr surface sites can be quantified by linear combination fit of reference X-Ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra and its amount correlates with CH3OH formation rates, thus indicating the importance of Zr(Ⅳ) Lewis acid surface sites in driving the selectivity toward CH3OH. This finding is consistent with the proposed mechanism, where CO2 is hydrogenated at the interface between the Cu nanoparticles that split H2 and Zr(Ⅳ) surface sites that stabilizes reaction intermediates.

Experimental Study on the Dependency of Ice Nucleation Active Surface Site Density on ATD Aerosol Size

In light of the percentage of Earth’s cloud coverage, heterogeneous ice nucleation in clouds is the most important global-scale pathway. More recent parameterizations of ice nucleation processes in the atmosphere are based on the concept of ice nucleation active surface site density (ns). It is usually assumed that ns is independent of time and aerosol size distribution, i.e. that the surface properties of aerosols of the same species do not vary with size. However, the independence of ns on aerosol size for every species has been questioned. This study presents the results of ice nucleation processes of ATD laboratory-generated aerosol (particle diameters of 0 - 3 μm). Ice nucleation in the condensation mode was performed in a Dynamic Filter Processing Cham- ber at temperatures of -18°C and -22°C, with a saturation ratio with respect to water of 1.02. Results show that ns increased by lowering the nucleation temperature, and was also dependent on the particle size. The ns of particles collected on the filters, after a 0.5 μm D50 cut-off cyclone, resulted statistically higher with respect to the values obtained from the particles collected on total filters. The results obtained suggest the need for further investigation of ns dependence of same composition aerosol particles with a view to support weather and climate predictions.

Understanding the intrinsic synergistic mechanism between Pt-O-Ti interface sites and TiO_(2) surface sites of Pt/TiO_(2) catalysts in Fenton-like reaction

Identifying the active site of oxide-supported metal catalysts and revealing the intrinsic synergistic mechanism between metal and oxide support remain a large challenge.Herein,we report the identification and separation of the Pt-O-Ti interface and TiO_(2) surface in Pt-TiO_(2)-based catalysts by depositing different thickness of TiO_(2) shell with∼0.4-nm micropores onto the surface of Pt/TiO_(2) catalyst through atomic layer deposition(ALD).In the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine(TMB)by hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))process,the TiO_(2) microporous shells can prevent the contact between TMB and embedded Pt clusters,but not delay the diffusion of H_(2)O_(2).The heterolysis of H_(2)O_(2) to ·OH occurs on the Pt-O-Ti interface,and the generated•OH migrates to the TiO_(2) surface to supplement the surface lattice oxygen,which sequentially oxidizes TMB to oxTMB.And the synergistic effect between Pt-O-Ti interface active sties and TiO_(2) surface active sites can significantly improve the catalytic performance.Our study provides a guide for the understanding of the intrinsic synergistic mechanism between the metal and oxide support in the metal-oxide catalysts.

Surface Acidity of Amorphous Aluminum Hydroxide

The surface acidity of synthetic amorphous AI hydroxide was determined by acid/base titration with several complementary methods including solution analyses of the reacted solutions and XRD characterization of the reacted solids. The synthetic specimen was characterized to be the amorphous material showing four broad peaks in XRD pattern. XRD analyses of reacted solids after the titration experiments showed that amorphous AI hydroxide rapidly transformed to crystalline bayerite at the alkaline condition （pH〉10）. The solution analyses after and during the titration Ksp=^aAl^3＋/aH^＋^3 ,was 10^10.3. The amount of consumption of added acid or base during the titration experiment was attributed to both the protonation/deprotonation of dissolved AI species and surface hydroxyl group. The surface acidity constants, surface hydroxyl density and specific surface area were estimated by FITEQL 4.0.

Subsurface intercalation activating basal plane of black phosphorus for nitrogen reduction

Ammonia(NH3)is not only an important chemical in many fields,but also provides a promising intermediate for energy stor-age[1,2].To produce NH3 from naturally abundant N2,the strong N≡N bond in the inert N2 molecules must be broken firstly.

Monitoring of CO_2 geological storage based on the passive surface waves

Carbon dioxide （CO2） capture and geological storage （CCS） is one of promising technologies for greenhouse gas effect mitigation. Many geotechnical challenges remain during carbon dioxide storage field practices, among which effectively detecting CO2 from deep underground is one of engineering problems. This paper reviews monitoring techniques currently used during CO2 injection and storage. A method developed based on measuring seismic microtremors is of main interest. This method was first successfully used to characterize a site in this paper. To explore its feasibility in C02 storage monitoring, numerical simulations were conducted to investigate detectable changes in elastic wave signatures due to injection and geological storage of CO2. It is found that, although it is effective for shallow earth profile estimation, the surface wave velocity is not sensitive to the CO2 layer physical parameter variations,especially for a thin CO2 geological storage layer in a deep underground reservoir.

Surface Active Sites on Co_(3)O_(4) Nanobelt and Nanocube Model Catalysts for CO Oxidation

CO oxidation has been performed on Co_(3)O_(4) nanobelts and nanocubes as model catalysts.The Co_(3)O_(4) nanobelts which have a predominance of exposed{011}planes are more active than Co_(3)O_(4) nanocubes with exposed{001}planes.Temperature programmed reduction of CO shows that Co_(3)O_(4) nanobelts have stronger reducing properties than Co_(3)O_(4) nanocubes.The essence of shape and crystal plane effect is revealed by the fact that turnover frequency of Co3+sites of{011}planes on Co_(3)O_(4) nanobelts is far higher than that of{001}planes on Co_(3)O_(4) nanocubes.

High-density/efficient surface active sites on modified separators to boost Li-S batteries via atomic Co^(3+)-Se termination

Various and critical electrocatalytic processes are involved during the redox reactions in the Li-S batteries,which extremely depend on the surface structure and chemical state.Recently,single-atom concept unlocks a route to maximize the use of surface-active atoms,however,further increasing the density of active site is still strictly limited by the inherent structure that single-atoms are only highly-dispersed on substrate.Herein,we provide a viewpoint that an elaborate facet design with singlecrystalline structure engineering can harvest high-density surface active sites,which can significantly boost the electrocatalyst performance for excellent Li-S batteries.Specifically,the single-crystal CoSe_(2)(scCS)exhibits three-types of terminated(011)facet,efficiently obtaining the surface with a high-rich Co^(3+)–Se bond termination,in contrast with lots of surface grain boundaries and dangling bonds in polycrystalline CoSe_(2).Surprisingly,the surface active sites concentration can reach more than 69%.As anticipated,it can provide high-density and high-efficient active sites,enormously suppressing the shuttle effect and improving the reaction kinetics via accelerating the conversion and deposition of polysulfides and Li2S.This surface lattice strategy with element terminated mode is a promising approach for designing electrocatalyst effect-based energy system,not merely for Li-S batteries.

Comments on "Reexamination of Correlations for Nucleate Site Distribution on Boiling Surface by Fractal Theory

In recently published paper by Yang Chunxin[1], I reexamined the paper. On page 128, the paper 'pointed out that the size and spatial distribution density of nucleation sites presented on real boiling surface can be described by the normalized fractal distribution function, and the physical meaning of parameters involved in some experimental correlations proposed by early investigations are identified according to fractal distribution'. However, the definition on fractal dimension given by Yang[1] is highly questionable, and the results obtained by Yang are contradictory to the basic fractal theory. Here are my comments:

Catalytic ozonation performance and surface property of supported Fe304 catalysts dispersions

Fe304 was supported on mesoporous A12O3 or SiO2 （50 wt.%） using an incipient wetness impregnation method, and Fe304/A12O3 exhibited higher catalytic efficiency for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyace- tic acid andpara-chlorobenzoic acid aqueous solution with ozone. The effect and morphology of supported Fe304 on catalytic ozonation performance were investigated based on the characterization results of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, BET analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the physical and chemical properties of the catalyst supports especially their Lewis acid sites had a significant influence on the catalytic activity. In comparison with SiO2, more Lewis acid sites existed on the surface of A12O3, resulting in higher catalytic ozonation activity. During the reaction process, no significant Fe ions release was observed. Moreover, Fe304/A12O3 exhibited stable structure and activity after successive cyclic experiments. The results indicated that the catalyst is a promising ozonation catalyst with magnetic separation in drinking water treatment.

Modification of Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst with CeO_2 for selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with ammonia

Cu/ZSM-5 and CeO_2-modified Cu/ZSM-5 catalysts were prepared by a wetness impregnation method. The addition of CeO_2 was found to enhance the NO_x selective catalytic reduction（SCR） activity of the catalyst at low temperatures, but the high-temperature activity was weakened. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, nitrogen physisorption, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry（ICP-OES）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, electron paramagnetic resonance（EPR）, H_2 temperature-programmed reduction（TPR） and NH_3 temperature-programmed desorption（TPD）. The results showed that more CuO clusters instead of isolated Cu^（2＋） species were obtained on the modified catalyst. These active CuO clusters, as well as the Cu-Ce synergistic effect, improved the redox property of the catalyst and low-temperatures SCR activity via promoting the oxidation of NO to NO_2 and fast SCR reaction. The loss in high-temperatures activity was attributed to the enhanced competitive oxidation of NH_3 by O_2 and decreased surface acidity of the catalyst.

On the monolayer dispersion behavior of Co_(3)O_(4)on HZSM-5 support:designing applicable catalysts for selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides by ammonia

Based on monolayer dispersion theory,Co_(3)O_(4)/ZSM-5 catalysts with different loadings have been prepared for selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides by ammonia.Co_(3)O_(4)can spontaneously disperse on HZSM-5 support with a monolayer dispersion threshold of 0.061 mmol 100 m^(-2),equaling to a weight percentage around 4.5%.It has been revealed that the quantities of surface active oxygen(O_(2)^(-))and acid sites are crucial for the reaction,which can adsorb and activate NO_(x)and NH_(3)reactants effectively.Below the monolayer dispersion threshold,Co_(3)O_(4)is finely dispersed as sub-monolayers or monolayers and in an amorphous state,which is favorable to generate the two kinds of active sites,hence promoting the performance of ammonia selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxide.However,the formation of crystalline Co_(3)O_(4)above the capacity is harmful to the reaction performance.4%Co_(3)O_(4)/ZSM-5,the catalyst close to the monolayer dispersion capacity,possesses the most abundant active O_(2)^(-)species and acidic sites,thereby demonstrating the best reaction performance in all the samples.It is proposed the optimal Co_(3)O_(4)/ZSM-5 catalyst can be prepared by loading the capacity amount of Co_(3)O_(4)onto HZSM-5 support.