Collaborative Research: Dinuclear Heterogeneous Catalysts (DHCs) as a new Platform for Selective Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Methane (CH4)

催化剂是一种可以在不被消耗的情况下加快化学反应速度的物质，在支撑我们经济的大规模化学过程中发挥着关键作用。其中一个例子是天然气重整，催化剂将甲烷转化为氢和一氧化碳（CO）。氢可以很容易地用作清洁能源。一氧化碳可以作为合成有价值的化学品如甲醇和乙酸的原料。然而，目前天然气重整过程面临的一个关键挑战是，它们往往是能源密集型的。解决这种低效率的关键是通过新颖的催化剂设计。在化学系化学催化项目的资助下，波士顿学院的王博士，耶鲁大学的Batista和Brudvig以及加州大学欧文分校的潘博士正在研究一种新型催化剂，这种催化剂有可能应对这一挑战。具有精确设计和定义的结构，催化剂正在研究两个原型反应，一氧化碳氧化和甲烷活化。为了扩大该项目的影响，正在进行协调一致的教育和外联活动。这些项目涉及来自不同背景的参与者，特别是那些未被充分代表的少数民族。本项目由化学学部化学催化项目资助，研究用于CO和CH4选择性氧化的新型催化剂——双核多相催化剂（DHCs）。DHCs是一类具有原子分散基序的新型多相催化剂。它们为化学转化提供了新的性质。波士顿学院的王博士；来自耶鲁大学的Batista和Brudvig以及来自加州大学欧文分校的潘博士利用他们在催化剂设计、合成、表征和反应机制方面的互补专业知识。他们合作验证了DHCs在选择性CO氧化和CH4活化等反应中比传统催化剂或最近表征的单原子催化剂更有效的假设。该研究是独特的，因为它检查了具有双核活性中心的多相催化剂的参与，其催化核心是明确的。这些研究活动还辅之以旨在促进代表性不足的群体、K-12学生、一般公众以及本科研究人员进行科学研究的教育努力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Catalysts, substances that increase the speed of chemical reactions without themselves being consumed, play critical roles in large-scale chemical processes that underpin our economy. One example is found in the reforming of natural gas, where catalysts convert methane to hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). Hydrogen can be readily used as a source of clean energy. CO can serve as a starting material for the synthesis of valuable chemicals such as methanol and acetic acid. A critical challenge presented by the current natural gas reforming processes, however, is that they are often energy intensive. The key to addressing this inefficiency is through novel catalyst designs. With funding from the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Wang of Boston College, Drs. Batista and Brudvig of Yale University, and Dr. Pan of the University of California, Irvine are investigating a new type of catalyst that has the potential to meet this challenge. Featuring precisely designed and defined structures, the catalysts are being studied for two prototypical reactions, carbon monoxide oxidation and methane activation. In an effort to broaden the impacts of the project, concerted educational and outreach activities are being carried out. These programs involve participants from diverse backgrounds, especially those of underrepresented minorities. With funding from the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Division of Chemistry, this project studies new class of catalysts, dinuclear heterogeneous catalysts (DHCs), for selective oxidation of CO and methane (CH4). DHCs belong to the emerging class of heterogeneous catalysts featuring atomically dispersed motifs. They offer new properties for chemical transformations. Dr. Wang from Boston College, Drs. Batista and Brudvig from Yale University, and Dr. Pan from the University of California, Irvine leverage their complementary expertise in catalyst design, synthesis, characterization, and reaction mechanisms. They collaborate to test the hypothesis that DHCs are more effective toward reactions such as selective CO oxidation and CH4 activation, than conventional catalysts or the recently characterized single-atom catalysts. The study is unique as it examines the involvement of heterogeneous catalysts with dinuclear active centers whose catalytic core is well defined. The research activities are complemented by educational efforts aimed at promoting scientific research by underrepresented groups, K-12 students, and the general public as well as undergraduate researchers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.