GOALI: Swellable Superhydrophobic Organosilica Materials as a Novel Catalyst Support for Water Purification Systems

1436729(俄亥俄州)这个项目是俄亥俄州立大学和位于俄亥俄州伍斯特市的ABSM材料公司合作完成的。ABSMaterals成立于2009年，专门从事新型有机硅材料的开发，拥有28名员工。2013年，该公司的总销售额为210万美元。ABS材料开发的一种独特的材料是可膨胀的有机硅酸盐骨架。这些材料商业化名称为Osorb®，以吨/月的规模生产，在有机物质存在的情况下，能够膨胀到其原始体积的3-4倍。另一个重要特征是它们具有高度的疏水性。到目前为止，这些材料的主要应用是通过吸附来清除水中的有机杂质。虽然这一应用在水净化方面具有巨大的商业化潜力，但另一个潜在的应用是将其用作催化剂支架，可用于水和/或常见溶质对催化速率有阻碍或失活作用的反应。这一潜在的应用正是俄亥俄州立化学工程公司的Ozkan团队和ABSM材料公司的科学家们走到一起的原因。虽然Ozkan集团在多相催化领域拥有30多年的经验，但ABS材料公司拥有大规模制造这些材料、开拓应用市场以及将基于这些材料的独特特性的不同工艺商业化的技术诀窍。重点将放在三氯乙烯等氯代烃的加氢脱氯和苯等芳香族碳氢化合物的加氢。将要开发的催化系统将利用高度疏水的可膨胀有机二氧化硅材料作为催化剂支架。可溶胀有机二氧化硅具有区别于传统催化剂载体的独特性质，包括高度疏水性，以及在吸收和解吸有机液体时可逆膨胀和收缩的能力。材料不吸水，但多孔介质从水中提取有机溶质的亲和力和容量都很高。由于可溶胀有机二氧化硅的新颖性，其作为催化剂支架的应用还没有得到彻底的探索。这项研究将研究：(I)将金属结合到多孔结构中的方法；(Ii)以SOMS为载体的金属催化剂的加氢脱氯和加氢反应动力学；(Iii)在可膨胀疏水介质中的传质限制；以及(Iv)隔离在疏水多孔基质中的金属催化剂的失活特性。这项工作将结合材料科学、催化、动力学和运输现象等领域的专业知识。将进行实验，为水净化系统的商业开发提供所需的知识基础，该系统旨在处理水中受EPA监管的有机污染物。广泛影响以前曾研究过解决水污染问题的催化系统的开发，但由于催化剂床因中毒而寿命有限，阻碍了商业化的道路。这里的一个关键的工作假设是，通过将金属催化剂隔离在疏水的多孔基质中，可以防止催化剂被水溶液中毒。Goali合作伙伴关系将该公司的材料科学创新与学术参与者的专业知识相结合，以解决这个价值数十亿美元的行业中的一个重要商业问题。被氯代烃和芳香烃污染的水的处理是确保美国公民安全饮用水供应的主要挑战。该项目将把学术研究的基本方面与工业驱动的现实应用相结合，由于此类补救技术存在市场拉动，该项目的成果可能会转化为商业流程。这种基于催化的技术有望为大型水处理行业带来更具成本效益的解决方案。该项目还将对加强教育基础设施和帮助开发人力资源产生影响。该协会开设了一门名为“催化和催化过程”的课程。行业合作者将作为课程的客座讲师，将他们的行业专业知识和经验直接带到课堂上。在对人力资源开发的影响方面，PI与当地两所高中建立了良好的合作伙伴关系，为高中生在毕业前提供研究实习经验。

1436729 (Ozkan)This project is a collaboration between The Ohio State University and ABSMaterials, which is a company located in Wooster, Ohio. ABSMaterials, founded in 2009, specializes in the development of novel organosilica materials, and employs 28 people. The total sales the company had in 2013 was $2.1 million. A unique class of materials developed by ABS materials are swellable organosilicate frameworks. These materials, commercialized as Osorb® and manufactured on a ton/month scale, have the capability to swell to 3-4 times their original volume in the presence of organics. Another important characteristic are their high hydrophobicity. The primary application of these materials to date has been their use to clean out organic impurities in water by absorption. While this application has large commercialization potential in water purification, another potential application is their use as catalyst scaffolds that can be used in reactions where water and/or common solutes have a hindrance or deactivation effect on the catalytic rate. This potential application is what brought the Ozkan group at Ohio State Chemical Engineering and the scientists at ABSMaterials together. While the Ozkan group has over 30 years of experience in heterogeneous catalysis, ABS Materials have the know-how for manufacturing these materials on a large scale, exploring the markets for applications, and commercializing different processes that will be based on the unique characteristics of these materials.Intellectual MeritThe proposed work will investigate novel catalyst systems to transform water contaminants into environmentally acceptable compounds. Focus will be placed on hydrodechlorination of chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethylene, and hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene. Catalytic systems to be developed will make use of highly hydrophobic swellable organosilica materials as catalyst scaffolds. Swellable organosilica have unique properties that differentiate them from traditional catalyst supports, including high hydrophobicity and the ability to reversibly expand and contract upon absorption and desorption of organic liquids. The materials do not absorb water, but the porous media extract organic solutes from water with high affinity and capacity. Due to the novelty of swellable organosilica, their use as catalyst scaffolds has not been thoroughly explored. This research will study: (i) methods to incorporate metals into the porous architecture, (ii) the kinetics of hydrodechlorination and hydrogenation reactions by metal catalysts supported on SOMS; (iii) mass transfer limitations in swellable hydrophobic media, and (iv) deactivation characteristics of metal catalysts sequestered in a porous hydrophobic matrix. The work will combine expertise from the fields of material science, catalysis, kinetics and transport phenomena. Experiments will be conducted to provide the knowledge base needed for the commercial development of a water purification system designed to treat EPA-regulated organic contaminants in water.Broader ImpactDevelopment of catalytic systems to address water contamination issues have been previously studied with the path to commercialization hindered by the limited lifetime of catalyst beds due to poisoning. A key working hypothesis here is that catalyst poisoning by water solutes will be prevented by sequestering metal catalysts in a porous hydrophobic matrix. The GOALI partnership integrates the company's material science innovation with expertise from the academic participants to solve a commercially important problems in a multi-billion dollar industry. Treatment of waters contaminated by chlorinated hydrocarbons and aromatics, both known carcinogens, represents a major challenge in ensuring a safe drinking water supply for U.S. citizens. The findings of the project, which will combine the fundamental aspects of academic research with real-life applications driven by industry are likely to be translated to commercial processes as there exist market pulls for such remediation technologies. This catalysis-based technology is expected to lead to a much more cost efficient solution to a large water treatment industry. The project will also have an impact in enhancing the educational infrastructure and helping to develop the human resources. The PI has developed a course titled "Catalysis and Catalytic Processes". The industrial collaborators will be guest lecturers for the course, bringing their industrial expertise and experience directly to the classroom. In terms of the impact on the human resources development, the PI has well-established partnerships with two local high schools to provide research internship experiences to senior high school students prior to graduation.