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

合作研究：碳纳米管表面催化选择性液体燃料生成的实验和理论研究

• 批准号: 1133143
• 负责人: Mauricio Terrones
• 金额: $ 13万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1133143&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Experimental; Theoretical; Investigations

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.

研究人员试图通过将各种催化剂颗粒分散在碳纳米管/纳米管（CNT）催化剂载体上来提高其效率，这是由于这些管状碳纳米材料具有更高的比表面积。成功尚未显著实现。在评估碳纳米管作为费托催化剂载体时，南伊利诺伊大学的PI Kanchan Mondal和Saikat Talapatra以及宾夕法尼亚州立大学的PI Mauricio Terrones观察到碳纳米管本身比传统催化剂表现得更好，表现出一个数量级的活性，而铁含量少三个数量级。据认为，这是由于CNT合成中残留铁的一些独特性，但随后提取残留Fe导致活性的另一个数量级的改善。这是CNT催化性质的潜在巨大变化。该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，如弯曲的碳表面（提供更高的吸附潜力，吸附气体附近），表面缺陷和功能化已主要被视为他们可能的贡献多相催化。PI提出了一系列与CNT催化相关的问题，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CNT催化性能。这个项目的教育方面是有趣的，本科生和研究生将接触到一个真正的跨学科和多学科的研究工作，关于在多相催化中使用纳米材料。与可再生燃料和能源的潜在联系是教育经验的一个附加因素。