Chunyan Ma

Mesoporous Co3O4 and Au/Co3O4 Catalysts for Low-Temperature Oxidation of Trace Ethylene

Low-temperature catalysts of mesoporous Co(3)O(4) and Au/Co(3)O(4) with high catalytic activities for the trace ethylene oxidation at 0 degrees C are reported in this paper. The catalysts were prepared by using the nanocasting method, and the mesostructure was replicated from three-dimensional (3D) cubic KIT-6 silicas. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies revealed that {110} facets were the exposed active surfaces in the mesoporous Co(3)O(4), whereas the Co(3)O(4) nanosheets prepared by the precipitation method exhibited the most exposed {112} facets. We found that the mesoporous Co(3)O(4) was significantly more active for ethylene oxidation than the Co(3)O(4) nanosheets. The results indicated that the crystal facet {110} of Co(3)O(4) played an essential role in determining its catalytic oxidation performance. The synthesized Au/Co(3)O(4) materials, in which the gold nanoparticles were assembled into the pore walls of the Co(3)O(4) mesoporous support, exhibited stable, highly dispersed, and exposed gold sites. Gold nanoparticles present on Co(3)O(4) readily produced surface-active oxygen species and promoted ethylene oxidation to achieve a 76% conversion at 0 degrees C, which is the highest conversion reported yet.

Investigation of Formaldehyde Oxidation over Co3O4−CeO2 and Au/Co3O4−CeO2 Catalysts at Room Temperature: Effective Removal and Determination of Reaction Mechanism

Formaldehyde is regarded as the major indoor pollutant emitted from widely used building and decorative materials in airtight buildings, which should be eliminated under indoor environmental conditions. We report here catalytic oxidation process of formaldehyde over mesoporous Co(3)O(4), Co(3)O(4)-CeO(2), Au/Co(3)O(4), and Au/Co(3)O(4)-CeO(2) catalysts and their excellent catalytic performances at room temperature. These catalysts were prepared by a nanocasting method with the mesostructure generated from SBA-15 silica with 2D structure. The adsorbed surface species in the formaldehyde oxidation process are analyzed, and some key steps in the oxidation pathway, active sites, and intermediate species are proposed. Among the detected species, some kinds of formate species formed on the catalysts were indentified as intermediates, which further transformed into bicarbonate or carbonate and which decomposed to carbon dioxide. The role of the mesoporous Co(3)O(4) and the gold nanoparticles in the mechanism are also revealed.

Adsorption and desorption performance of benzene over hierarchically structured carbon-silica aerogel composites

Hierarchically structured carbon-silica aerogel (CSA) composites were synthesized from cheap water glass precursors and granulated activated carbon via a post-synthesis surface modification with trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) and a low-cost ambient pressure drying procedure. The resultant CSA composites possess micro/mesoporous structure and hydrophobic surface. The adsorption and desorption performance of benzene on carbon-silica aerogel composite (CSA-2) under static and dynamic conditions were investigated, comparing with pure silica aerogel (CSA-0) and microporous activated carbon (AC). It was found that CSA-2 has high affinity towards aromatic molecules and fast adsorption kinetics. Excellent performance of dynamic adsorption and desorption observed on CSA-2 is related to its higher adsorption capacity than CSA-0 and less mass transfer resistance than AC, arising from the well-developed microporosity and open foam mesostructure in the CSA composites.

Mesoporous carbon-confined Au catalysts with superior activity for selective oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid

A series of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC)-supported Au catalysts were successfully prepared by nano-replication, followed by colloidal gold deposition method. Structural analysis showed that the mesopore sizes of the catalysts can be tuned controllably in the range of 3.2–7.6 nm by adjusting the dosage of boric acid used to prepare the carbon supports. TEM observations revealed that the Au nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly in the mesopore channels of the carbon supports. These Au/OMC catalysts were tested for the aerobic oxidation of glucose to produce gluconic acid at 40 °C and pH 9. As demonstrated by the structural analysis and reaction results, the activities of these catalysts were closely related to their mesopore sizes. The catalyst with a mesopore size of 5.4 nm exhibited a superior catalytic activity with a TOF of 4.308 molglucose molAu−1 s−1 to the catalysts reported previously by other researchers. This high activity was mainly ascribed to its unique structure, consisting of 5.4 nm mesopore channels incorporated with 3.3 nm Au nanoparticles, which facilitates contact between glucose molecules and Au nanoparticles. Besides, the abundant active oxygen species existing on this catalyst surface also promote glucose oxidation.

NOx decomposition, storage and reduction over novel mixed oxide catalysts derived from hydrotalcite-like compounds

Effective control and removal of nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) emission from vehicles exhausts under lean-burn condition is one of the most important targets in scientific research of environmental protection. A comprehensive introduction of NO(x) storage and reduction (NSR), the most promising lean-NO(x) control technology, is given including the sum-up of NSR materials, catalytic activity and related reaction mechanisms. Emphasis is put on the novel multifunctional NSR catalysts, derived from hydrotalcite-like compounds, with characteristic of simultaneous NO(x) strorage-decomposition-reduction. Finally, future research directions in the area of lean-NO(x) control based on mixed oxide catalysts derived from hydrotalcite-like materials is also proposed.

Porous Graphitized Carbon for Adsorptive Removal of Benzene and the Electrothermal Regeneration

Graphitized carbons with mesoporous and macroporous structures were synthesized by a facile template-catalysis procedure using resorcinol and formaldehyde as carbon precursors and particulate hydrated metal oxides as both template and catalyst precursors. The materials were used as novel adsorbents for low-concentration benzene vapor. Furthermore, on the basis of the good electrical conductivities associated with the graphitized structures, an electrothermal desorption technique, which involved passing electric currents through the adsorbents to generate Joule heat, was employed to regenerate the saturated adsorbents and produce enriched benzene vapors. In comparison to microporous activated carbon, the porous graphitized carbons could afford a much quicker and more efficient regeneration by electrothermal desorption technique due to their enhanced conductivity and larger pore sizes. In addition, the concentration of the desorbed organics could be controlled by adjusting the applied voltages, which might be interesting for practical secondary treatment. It is promising that the joint utilization of porous graphitized carbon adsorbents and electrothermal desorption technique might develop effective and energy-saving processes for VOCs removal.

Catalytic oxidation of benzene over nanostructured porous Co3O4-CeO2 composite catalysts

Mesostructured Co3O4-CeO2 composite was found to be an effective catalytic material for the complete oxidation of benzene. The Co3O4-CeO2 catalysts with different Co/Ce ratios (mol/mol) were prepared via the nanocasting method and the mesostructure was replicated from two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal SBA-15 and three-dimensional (3D) cubic KIT-6 silicas, respectively. All the obtained Co3O4-CeO2 catalysts exhibited the similar symmetry with the parent silicas and well ordered mesostructures. The Co3O4-CeO2 catalysts with 2D mesostructure showed lower catalytic activities than the corresponding 3D materials. The Co3O4-CeO2 catalyst nanocasted from KIT-6 and with the Co/Ce ratio of 16/1 possessed the best catalytic benzene oxidation activity due to larger quantities of surface hydroxyl groups and surface oxygenated species. The mesostructured Co3O4-CeO2 material thus shows great potential as a promising eco-environmental catalyst for benzene effective elimination.

Selective oxidation of H2S over V2O5 supported on CeO2-intercalated Laponite clay catalysts

A series of V2O5 supported on CeO2-intercalated clay catalysts (named V2O5/Ce-Lap catalysts) with mesoporous structure and high specific surface area were prepared. The structural characteristics and physicochemical properties were studied in detail. These catalysts were evaluated for the H2S selective oxidation. It was revealed that all V2O5/Ce-Lap catalysts showed high catalytic activities in the temperature range of 120–220 °C due to the redox reaction of highly dispersed V5+ species, and the catalytic mechanism obeyed a redox process, i.e. a stepwise mechanism. Additionally, the chemically absorbed oxygen also played an important role in H2S selective oxidation. Among them, the 5% V2O5/Ce-Lap catalyst presented the best catalytic activity and excellent regenerability at 180 °C. Finally, the catalyst deactivation mechanism was explored.

Decomposition of nitrous oxide over Co-zeolite catalysts: role of zeolite structure and active site

A series of Co exchanged zeolites with ZSM-5, BEA, MOR and USY structures were prepared and investigated for N2O catalytic decomposition under identical reaction conditions. It is found that Co-zeolites with different structures show dramatically different catalytic activities, which could be attributed to various Co species formed in them. Co-ZSM-5, Co-BEA and Co-MOR exhibit much higher activities than Co-USY catalysts, which is attributed to the predominant formation of active isolated Co2+ ions in the ion exchange positions; while in Co-USY Co mainly exists as less active Co oxides. Moreover, it is observed that the activities of Co2+ ions in ZSM-5, BEA and MOR zeolites are quite different and are related to the specific Co ion sites presented in each zeolite structure. In Co-ZSM-5, the most active sites are the α-type Co ions, which are weakly coordinated to framework oxygens in the straight channel. On the other hand, in Co-BEA and Co-MOR, the most active sites are β-type Co ions, which are coordinated to the framework oxygens of the elongated six-membered ring of BEA and the interconnected small channel of MOR, respectively. The main factors affecting the activities of these individual Co ions are indicated to be their location in the zeolite structure, their chemical coordination and the distances between the Co ions. The highest activity of the α-type Co ions in ZSM-5 could be attributed to their favorite location in the zeolite and weak coordination to framework oxygens, which make them easily accessible and coordinated to reactants. The large number of β-sites and their structural arrangement in MOR allow the formation of two unique adjacent β-Co ions in Co–Co pairs, which cooperate in N2O splitting, consequently yielding the high activity of β-Co ions in MOR.

Synthesis and hydrophobic adsorption properties of microporous/mesoporous hybrid materials

Hybrid materials of silicalite-1 (Sil-1)-coated SBA-15 particles (MSs) have been successfully synthesized by crystallization process under hydrothermal conditions. These MSs materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption and TEM techniques, which illustrated that the silicalite-1-coated SBA-15 particles were successfully prepared and had large pore volume and hierarchical pore size distribution. Further experimental studies indicated that longer crystallization time under basic condition caused the mesostructure of SBA-15 materials to collapse destructively and higher calcination temperature tended to disrupt the long-range mesoscopic order while they had little influence on the phase of microcrystalline silicalite-1 zeolite. The resultant MSs materials were investigated by estimating dynamic adsorption capacity under dry and wet conditions to evaluate their adsorptive and hydrophobic properties. The hydrophobicity index (HI) value followed the sequence of silicalite-1>MSs>SBA-15, which revealed that the SBA-15 particles coated with the silicalite-1 seeds enhanced the surface hydrophobicity, and also were consistent with FTIR results. Our studies show that MSs materials combined the advantages of the ordered mesoporous material (high adsorptive capacity, large pore volume) and silicalite-1 zeolite (super-hydrophobic property, high hydrothermal stability), and the presence of micropores directly led to an increase in the dynamic adsorption capacity of benzene under dry and wet conditions.