Collaborative Research: In situ Characterization of Methanol Oxidation Catalyzed by Copper-Based Materials

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Catalysts are used in the manufacturing of more than 60% of all synthesized chemicals and more than 90% of chemical industries use catalytic materials world-wide, with an estimated combined impact on the global economy of over $10 trillion per year. Furthermore, catalysis is essential to chemistry where reactants are efficiently converted to products while minimizing the production of by-products that are environmentally harmful. Yet, technological advancements in catalysis have frequently depended more on chemical intuition than fundamentals. The recent emergence of ?nano-characterization tools? has fundamentally changed this and is allowing the discovery of fundamental principles of catalysis via detailed characterization of catalysts and its correlation with their chemical reactivity. In a collaborative program between the University of Pittsburgh, SUNY Binghamton, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, PIs Judith Yang, Goetz Veser and Guangwen Zhou will use state-of-the-art characterization tools including environmental transmission electron microscopy, in situ scanning tunneling microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, complemented with reactivity studies using a specially designed spatially resolved microreactor in order to gain essential insights into catalytic structure-reactivity relationships. The PIs will focus on copper-containing catalysts, a class of catalysts with importance for existing and emerging energy technologies, such as partial oxidation of methanol and the water-gas-shift reaction. Experiments will be performed on simple model systems including Cu single crystals and Cu oxides produced by controlled oxidation of Cu surfaces in-situ. Correlations between the phases and surface and interface structure of Cu-based catalysts and their catalytic activity will be identified. The results will be compared with commercially available Cu/ZnO catalysts to provide a commercial base-line for these fundamental studies. An important global topic such as energy production requires not only advances in scientific research, but trained people to aid in the transfer of these advances into industrial practice. The partnership between two major universities and a national laboratory will enrich the education of the students involved in this program. Graduate students will be trained in materials physics/chemistry and catalysis science and will learn about new microscopy, spectroscopy, kinetics and modeling techniques as well as materials issues that are at the forefront of current energy research. The training of graduate students in the broader area of clean energy technology, as well a fundamental scientific discipline (e.g., catalytic kinetics, materials science, physics, etc.), will result in future leaders that are better equipped to solve the complex energy and environmental problems that face society. Results from this project will also be incorporated into new graduate-level courses and high school outreach programs at both Universities.