Designing Transition Metal Oxide Catlysts: From Cluster Science to Industrial Applications

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In this grant supported under the GOALI initiative in the Experimental Physical Chemistry program of the Chemistry division, A. Welford Castleman at Pennsylvania State University, in conjunction with David Thorn of DuPont Central Research and Development, will study the structure and kinetics of clusters of transition metal oxides (Ti, Zr, Nb) in fast flow reactors using tandem mass spectrometers. The effectiveness of these compounds as catalysts will be determined by examining their effect on several novel gas-phase reactions, such as the transfer of oxygen atoms to acetone to form methyl acetate. A catalyst is a material which modifies a chemical reaction, such as increasing its rate or causing different end products to be produced, while leaving the material itself chemically unaltered at the end. The impetus behind this joint academic-industrial research project is to determine the potential of various transition metal oxide compounds as selective catalysts for chemical reactions involving the C-C and C-H bonds in various hydrocarbon compounds. DuPont scientists with experience in solid state chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis will be able to synthesize materials which were identified in Pennsylvania State's gas-phase experiments as being particularly active in catalyzing these reactions.