The Catalyst Review June 2019 - 6

PROCESS NEWS
New Core-Shell Catalyst for
Ethanol Fuel Cells...

Robust Carbon-Coupling Catalysts Sans Precious Metals...

Scientists at the U.S. Department of
Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National
Laboratory and the University of Arkansas
have developed a highly efficient catalyst
for extracting electrical energy from
ethanol. The catalyst, described in the
Journal of the American Chemical Society,
steers the electro-oxidation of ethanol
down an ideal chemical pathway that
releases the liquid fuel's full potential of
stored energy. "This catalyst is a game
changer that will enable the use of ethanol
fuel cells as a promising high-energydensity source of 'off-the-grid' electrical
power," said Jia Wang, the Brookhaven
Lab chemist who led the work. One
particularly promising application: liquid
fuel-cell-powered drones. Much of
ethanol's potential power is locked up in
the carbon-carbon bonds that form the
backbone of the molecule. The catalyst
developed by Wang's group reveals that
breaking those bonds at the right time is
the key to unlocking that stored energy.
The new catalyst-which combines
reactive elements in a unique core-shell
structure that Brookhaven scientists have
been exploring for a range of catalytic
reactions-speeds up all of these steps.
To make the catalyst, Jingyi Chen of the
University of Arkansas, who was a visiting
scientist at Brookhaven during part of this
project, developed a synthesis method to
co-deposit platinum and iridium on gold
nanoparticles. The platinum and iridium
form "monoatomic islands" across the
surface of the gold nanoparticles. That
arrangement, Chen noted, is the key that
accounts for the catalyst's outstanding
performance. "The gold nanoparticle
cores induce tensile strain in the platinumiridium monoatomic islands, which
increases those elements' ability to cleave
the carbon-carbon bonds, and then strip
away its hydrogen atoms," she said. The
next step, Wang noted, is to engineer
devices that incorporate the new catalyst.
The mechanistic details revealed by this
study may also help guide the rational
design of future multicomponent catalysts
for other applications. Source: U.S.
Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven
National Laboratory, 6/7/2019.

Peter R. Ellis and colleagues at Johnson Matthey have come up with a way to make
precious-metal-free cobalt Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) catalysts that remain active in slurryphase tests for more than 1000 h. To make the catalysts, the team treated cobalt
metal with an aqueous solution of ammonium carbonate, ammonium hydroxide, and
bubbling air, and then reacted the product with α-alumina. Microscopy studies show
that the method coats the support with fine (~5-nm-dimater) cobalt oxide particles-a
precursor to the catalytically active metallic phase. In contrast, a standard preparation
method based on impregnation of α-alumina with cobalt nitrate generated much
larger particles-up to 75 nm in diameter. Other analyses show that the small and large
particles differ in terms of the oxidation state of cobalt at their surfaces, which may also
affect activity. To assess catalytic performance, the researchers conducted various types
of reactor tests. One test, which compared 2 α-alumina-supported catalysts, showed
that the new catalyst is more than six times as active as the cobalt-nitrate-based
material and generates a larger fraction of the desired C5 and longer hydrocarbons.
Another test showed that the activity of the new catalyst-made without precious
metals-on α-alumina, is roughly equivalent to that of a reference commercial catalyst
composed of ruthenium and cobalt on γ-alumina. In this test, too, the new catalyst
exhibited higher selectivity for C5+ products. Source: Chemical & Engineering News
(C&EN), 6/6/2019.

DICP Scientists Achieve High-Quality Gasoline Directly from
Syngas...
A research group led by Profs. Pan Xiulian and Bao Xinhe from the Dalian Institute of
Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) achieved direct
synthesis of high-quality gasoline from syngas. The OX-ZEO (Oxide-Zeolite) catalyst
design concept, which was reported by this research group, has enabled selective
syngas conversion to mixed light olefins with a high selectivity of 80% among
hydrocarbons, to ethylene with a selectivity of 83%, and to aromatics with a selectivity
of 73.9%, far beyond the limits predicted by the ASF distribution model. "Here we
reported one step transformation of syngas to gasoline with a selectivity of 77% at
CO conversion of 20%. The hazardous aromatics content in gasoline (< 16%) was
significantly lower than the limits set by most countries," said Prof. Pan. The research
provided a potential technology for one-step synthesis of high-quality gasoline from
a variety of carbon resources via syngas. It demonstrated again that the OX-ZEO
catalyst concept was general and could be applicable for synthesis of other chemicals
from syngas. Source: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of
Sciences, 5/29/2019.
BASF Develops Process for Climate-Friendly Methanol...
BASF experts are working intensely on new technologies to produce methanol without
any greenhouse gas emissions. If it can be successfully implemented at an industrial
scale, the entire production process - from syngas production to pure methanol - will
no longer release any carbon dioxide emissions. In the new BASF process, syngas is
generated by partial oxidation of natural gas. The subsequent process steps - methanol
synthesis and distillation - can be carried out nearly unchanged. Waste gas streams
consisting of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen are incinerated
in an Oxyfuel process with pure oxygen. This results in a small volume of flue gas with
a maximum carbon dioxide content. The flue gas is then scrubbed using BASF's proven
OASE® process for full recovery of the carbon dioxide. The captured carbon dioxide is
fed back into the beginning of the process. Source: BASF, 5/24/2019.

The Catalyst Review

June 2019

The Catalyst Review June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review June 2019