Collaborative Research: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Catalysis on Carbon Nanotube Surfaces For Selective Liquid Fuel Generation

由于这些管状碳纳米材料具有更高的比表面积，研究人员试图通过将各种催化剂颗粒分散在碳纳米纤维/纳米管（CNTs）催化剂载体上来提高其效率。目前还没有取得显著的成功。在评价碳纳米管作为费托催化剂载体的作用时，南伊利诺伊大学的PIs Kanchan Mondal和Saikat Talapatra以及宾夕法尼亚州立大学的Mauricio Terrones观察到碳纳米管本身的性能比传统催化剂更好，在铁含量少三个数量级的情况下表现出更高的活性。人们认为这是由于碳纳米管合成中残余铁的一些独特性，但随后提取残余铁导致活性又一个数量级的提高。这是碳纳米管催化性质的一个潜在的戏剧性变化。本提案的目的之一是研究碳纳米管本身作为催化剂在多相催化，特别是FT催化中的作用。其他重要的因素，如它们弯曲的碳表面（为其附近的吸附气体提供更高的吸附电位），表面缺陷和功能化，它们对多相催化的可能贡献，主要被忽视了。pi提出了一系列与碳纳米管催化有关的问题，他们打算解决这些问题，然后创造性地调整合成和处理工艺，以优化碳纳米管的催化性能。这个项目的教育方面很有趣，本科生和研究生将接触到关于纳米材料在多相催化中的应用的真正跨领域和多学科的研究成果。与可再生燃料和能源的潜在联系是教育经验的一个额外优势。

Researchers have tried to increase the efficiency of various catalyst particles by dispersing them on carbon nanofiber/nanotube (CNTs) catalyst supports, due to the availability of higher specific surface areas of these tubular carbon nanomaterials. Success has not been notably achieved. In evaluating CNTs as supports for Fischer-Tropsch catalysts, PIs Kanchan Mondal and Saikat Talapatra of Southern Illinois University and Mauricio Terrones of Pennsylvania State University observed that the CNTs themselves perform better than conventional catalysts, exhibiting an order of magnitude more activity with three orders of magnitude less iron content. It was thought that this was due to some uniqueness in the residual iron from the CNT synthesis, but subsequent extraction of the residual Fe resulted in still another order of magnitude improvement in activity. This is a potentially dramatic change in the nature of CNT catalysis. One of the aims of this proposal is to investigate the role of CNTs themselves as catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis, especially FT catalysis. Other significant factors such as their curved carbon surfaces (offering higher adsorption potential to the adsorbate gases near its vicinity), surface defects and functionalization have been primarily over looked as to their possible contribution to heterogeneous catalysis. The PIs propound an excellent series of questions related to catalysis on CNTs that they intend to address, and to then creatively adjust synthesis and treatment processes to optimize the CNT catalytic performance.The educational aspects of this project are interesting in that the undergraduate and graduate students will be exposed to a truly cross-cutting and multi-disciplinary research effort about the use of nanommaterials in heterogeneous catalysis. The potential tie-in to renewable fuels and energy is an added plus in the educational experience.