Simona Bennici

Design of amphoteric mixed oxides of zinc and Group 3 elements (Al, Ga, In): migration effects on basic features

The design of new amphoteric catalysts is of great interest for several industrial processes, especially those covering dehydration and dehydrogenation phenomena. Adsorption microcalorimetry was used to monitor the design of mixed oxides of zinc with Group 3 elements (aluminium, gallium, indium) with amphoteric character and enhanced specific surface area. Acid-base features were found to evolve non-linearly with the relative amounts of metal, and the strengths of the created acidic or basic sites were measured by adsorption microcalorimetry. A panel of bifunctional catalysts of various acid-base (amounts, strengths) and redox character was obtained. Besides, special interest was given to In-Zn mixed oxides for their enhanced basicity: this series of catalysts displays important basic features of high strength (q(diff) (SO₂ ads.) > 200 kJ mol(SO₂)⁻¹ in substantial amounts (1 - 2 μmol m(catalyst)⁻²), whose impact on efficiency or selectivity in catalytic dehydration/dehydrogenation can be valuable.

Ammoniation–Dehydration of Fatty Acids into Nitriles: Heterogeneous or Homogeneous Catalysis?

Fatty nitriles have lately become of interest in the framework of biofuels and for the valorization of the oil part of biomass to form fine chemicals or polymers. The production of long-chain fatty nitriles by the direct reaction of acids with NH3 has not been extensively studied, although several catalysts have been developed and published as patents. The characterization of this reaction with and without catalyst is, to the best of our knowledge, performed for the first time in this study. Several catalysts with various acid-base features were tested, and the best catalysts at 250 °C (Zn- and In-based catalysts) were further studied. Catalytically active forms and models are proposed for the Zn- and In-based catalysts, and the kinetic parameters for the amide to nitrile reaction are evaluated.

Acid and redox properties of tungstated zirconia catalysts

Various tungstated zirconia catalysts with a WO3 loading of about 16 wt% were characterized both in their acid and oxidation properties. The samples have been characterized in their micro-structural and surface properties by BET, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, temperature programmed reduction, elemental chemical analysis. The surface acidity was determined by the techniques of NH3 adsorption microcalorimetry and pyridine infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Improved acidity has been detected upon addition of WO3 to zirconia by both techniques. The global acid strength and the total number of acid sites increased greatly with the formation of WOx clusters on the zirconia support. This acidity increase can be attributed to the creation of Brønsted acid sites generated by the well dispersed WOx domains, as observed by FT-IR pyridine desorption.

Influence of Catalyst Acid/Base Properties in Acrolein Production by Oxidative Coupling of Ethanol and Methanol

Oxidative coupling of methanol and ethanol represents a new route to produce acrolein. In this work, the overall reaction was decoupled in two steps, the oxidation and the aldolization, by using two consecutive reactors to investigate the role of the acid/base properties of silica-supported oxide catalysts. The oxidation of a mixture of methanol and ethanol to formaldehyde and acetaldehyde was performed over a FeMoOx catalyst, and then the product mixture was transferred without intermediate separation to a second reactor, in which the aldol condensation and dehydration to acrolein were performed over the supported oxides. The impact of the acid/base properties on the selectivity towards acrolein was investigated under oxidizing conditions for the first time. The acid/base properties of the catalysts were investigated by NH3 -, SO2 -, and methanol-adsorption microcalorimetry. A MgO/SiO2 catalyst was the most active in acrolein production owing to an appropriate ratio of basic to acidic sites.

A comparative study of basic, amphoteric and acidic catalysts in the oxidative coupling of methanol and ethanol for acrolein production

The impact of acid/base properties (determined by adsorption microcalorimetry) of various catalysts on the cross-aldolization of acetaldehyde and formaldehyde leading to acrolein was methodically studied in oxidizing conditions starting from a mixture of methanol and ethanol. The aldol condensation and further dehydration to acrolein were carried out on catalysts presenting various acid/base properties (MgO, Mg-Al oxides, Mg/SiO2 , NbP, and heteropolyanions on silica, HPA/SiO2 ). Thermodynamic calculations revealed that cross-aldolization is always favored compared with self-aldolization of acetaldehyde, which leads to crotonaldehyde formation. The presence of strong basic sites is shown to be necessary, but a too high amount drastically increases COx production. On strong acid sites, production of acrolein and carbon oxides (COx ) does not increase with temperature. The optimal catalyst for this process should be amphoteric with a balanced acid/base cooperation of medium strength sites and a small amount (<100 μmol g-1 ) of very strong basic sites (Qdiff >150 kJ mol-1 ).

Factors Influencing NO2 Adsorption/Reduction on Microporous Activated Carbon: Porosity vs. Surface Chemistry

The textural properties and surface chemistry of different activated carbons, prepared by the chemical activation of olive stones, have been investigated in order to gain insight on the NO2 adsorption mechanism. The parent chemical activated carbon was prepared by the impregnation of olive stones in phosphoric acid followed by thermal carbonization. Then, the textural properties and surface chemistry were modified by chemical treatments including nitric acid, sodium hydroxide and/or a thermal treatment at 900 °C. The main properties of the parent and modified activated carbons were analyzed by N2-adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques, in order to enlighten the modifications issued from the chemical and thermal treatments. The NO2 adsorption capacities of the different activated carbons were measured in fixed bed experiments under 500 ppmv NO2 concentrations at room temperature. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) was applied after adsorption tests in order to quantify the amount of the physisorbed and chemisorbed NO2. The obtained results showed that the development of microporosity, the presence of oxygen-free sites, and the presence of basic surface groups are key factors for the efficient adsorption of NO2.

Hydrogen and Calorimetry: Case Studies

In this chapter the use of calorimetric data is shown to be of primary interest for the determination of the reaction/diffusion and reaction/absorption mechanisms involved in hydrogen storage or hydrogen production reactions. Examples of calorimetric measurements (alone or coupled to volumetric devices working at atmospheric or high pressure) and thermal analysis experiments applied to different hydrogen storage systems are reported. In particular, applications of calorimetric tools to the study of irreversible and reversible hydrogen storage systems are detailed, such as borohydrides hydrolysis and hydrogen desorption from magnesium hydrides.