Collaborative Research: Fundamentals of biomass upgrading to fuels and chemicals over catalytic bimetallic nanoparticles

摘要#1264453Simon G. Podkolzin生物质转化为燃料和化学原料的有前途的新技术依赖于生物油的生产，需要升级以从含氧有机分子（如有机酸和酚）中去除氧气。高氧浓度使生物油呈酸性和腐蚀性，在储存期间不稳定，并且每单位重量的能量价值低于石油衍生的烃。虽然有生产生物油的有效的商业化工艺，但没有有效的催化商业化技术来提高生物油的质量。目前的研究和开发技术是从传统的石油精炼催化剂开始的，这些催化剂对于生物质加工不是最佳的，因此不是很有效。 因此，迫切需要新的催化升级技术，以成功开发可持续能源。可以寻求与石油精炼过程类似的方法，其中催化剂的进步，例如使用双金属或多金属催化剂，已经导致非常有效地输送低污染物燃料。然而，由于缺乏对生物质衍生的含氧碳氢化合物如何与有前途的碳氢化合物催化剂相互作用的基本理解，这种用于生物油的新催化技术的开发受到严重阻碍。美国国家科学基金会催化&生物催化计划将设立一个奖项，资助新泽西州霍博肯史蒂文斯理工学院的Simon Podkolzin教授和Adeniyi Lawal教授之间的合作努力，和普林斯顿大学的布鲁斯科尔教授，以推进对生物油中含氧分子如何在催化剂纳米颗粒上吸附和反应的分子水平的理解。所获得的基本原理将用于确定：（a）生物油升级的优选化学品，（B）改进的催化剂配方，和（c）优化的反应条件。该计划将协同联合收割机单晶表面科学实验，表征和负载金属催化剂的测试，量子化学计算与振动分析解释实验振动光谱和过渡态计算反应机理研究。认识到这一领域的许多研究正在得到资助，研究将与太平洋西北国家实验室内的综合催化研究所的能源部生物质转化方案密切合作进行。这一合作项目将为生产可再生能源和化工原料的高效环保新技术的转型发展奠定基础。这项研究的基础和应用知识将促进催化纳米材料的合理设计，更广泛地说，将有利于高度多样化和快速发展的技术，这些技术非常依赖于含氧有机分子和金属纳米颗粒之间的相互作用，从传感器到医疗诊断，从药物输送到燃料电池。研究人员将参与几个本科和K-12教育推广计划。例如，研究人员将开发用于绿色化学和可持续性的金属纳米颗粒教学模块，他们将在夏令营中为来自美国各地的300多名高中生使用。

Abstract#1264453Simon G. PodkolzinPromising new technologies for biomass conversion into fuels and chemical feedstocks rely on production of bio-oils, which need to be upgraded in order to remove oxygen from oxygen-containing organic molecules such as organic acids and phenols. A high oxygen concentration makes bio-oils acidic and corrosive, unstable during storage, and less energetically valuable per unit weight than petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Although there are effective commercializable processes for the production of bio-oils, there are no efficient catalytic commercializable technologies for their upgrading. Current research and development technologies have started with traditional petroleum refining catalysts, which are not optimized for biomass processing, and as a result, are not very effective. New catalytic upgrading technologies are, therefore, urgently needed for the successful development of sustainable energy resources. Parallels may be sought with petroleum refining processes, where catalyst advances, such as using bimetallic or multimetallic catalysts, have led to very efficient delivery of low contaminant fuels. Development of such new catalytic technologies for bio-oils, however, is severely hindered by a lack of fundamental understanding of how oxygen-containing hydrocarbons derived from biomass interact with promising bimetallic catalysts.The National Science Foundation Catalysis & Biocatalysis Program will make an award to fund a collaborative effort between Professors Simon Podkolzin and Adeniyi Lawal of Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, and Professor Bruce Koel of Princeton University to advance the molecular-level understanding of how oxygen-containing molecules from bio-oils adsorb and react on catalytic bimetallic nanoparticles. The obtained fundamentals will be used to identify: (a) preferred chemistries for bio-oil upgrading, (b) improved catalyst formulations, and (c) optimized reaction conditions. The program will synergistically combine single-crystal surface science experiments, characterization and testing of supported metal catalysts, and quantum-chemical calculations with vibrational analyses for interpretation of experimental vibrational spectra and transition state calculations for reaction mechanisms studies. Recognizing that many studies are being funded in this area, research will be conducted in close cooperation with Department of Energy biomass conversion programs at the Institute for Integrated Catalysis operating within the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This should result in reduced duplication of efforts and synergy in moving to successful achievement of biomass conversion efforts.This collaborative project will establish one basis for the transformative development of new efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for the production of renewable energy and chemical industry feedstocks. The fundamental and applied knowledge from this research will advance the rational design of catalytic nanomaterials and, more widely, will benefit highly diverse and rapidly developing technologies that vitally rely on the interaction between oxygen-containing organic molecules and metal nanoparticles, ranging from sensors to medical diagnostics, and from drug delivery to fuel cells. The researchers will be engaged in several undergraduate and K-12 educational outreach programs. For example, the investigators will develop teaching modules on metal nanoparticles for green chemistry and sustainability which they will use in a summer camp for more than 300 high school students from across the U.S.