Catalysis in two dimensions for clean energy

开发新的热催化转化工艺，以满足用生物质等绿色替代品取代化石燃料的不断发展的需求，已被确定为催化科学和技术面临的重大挑战之一。为了应对这一挑战，需要合理设计新的催化剂，将生物质转化为有用的燃料和化学品。催化剂的活性和选择性由催化剂的表面化学性质决定，而表面化学性质又由催化剂的组成和纳米结构决定。催化剂结构的重要性推动了超薄、二维(2D)纳米材料、几个原子或几层厚的片状结构(CO和CO2)和粗生物油的最新发展，这两种结构都很容易从木材废料等第二代生物质中生产出来。*2D材料在多相热催化反应器中的应用一直受到限制，因为它们通常是作为无载体纳米结构合成的。因此，它们在高温下不稳定，不容易形成球状、颗粒或挤出物，可用于非均相(固定床或流态床)反应器。这项研究将研究2D异质结构的制备，以提供用于非均相固定床和流态床反应器所需的热稳定性和形态(颗粒形状)。我们将使用微型反应器(催化剂负载量为100 mg)对所生产的新催化剂进行评估，以获得所需的机理和动力学信息，以扩展我们对所选热催化反应的2D纳米结构与其活性或选择性之间的关系的理解。最有希望的候选催化剂的放大和催化剂稳定性将在不列颠哥伦比亚大学的生物精炼研究和创新中心(BRIC)示范设施进行评估，该示范设施最近由CFI资助。该设施将向更大规模的反应器(催化剂装载量为10-25克)提供滑流合成气和生物油，以在接近模拟工业操作的条件下确定较长时间段(约30天)的催化性能。**

The development of new thermocatalytic conversion processes that address the evolving need to replace fossil fuels with green alternatives such as biomass, has been identified as one of the grand challenges facing catalysis science and technology. To meet this challenge, the rational design of new catalysts that convert biomass to useful fuels and chemicals, is needed. Catalyst activity and selectivity are determined by the surface chemical properties of a catalyst, which in turn are determined by the catalyst composition and nanostructure. The importance of catalyst structure has driven recent developments in ultrathin, two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, sheet-like structures that are a few atoms or layers thick (, CO and CO2) and crude bio-oils, both of which are readily produced from second generation biomass such as wood waste.***The application of 2D materials in heterogeneous thermocatalytic reactors has been limited since they are usually synthesized as unsupported nanostructures. Consequently, they are unstable at elevated temperatures and are not easily formed into spheres, pellets or extrudates that can be used in heterogeneous (fixed-bed or fluid-bed) reactors. This research will study the preparation of 2D heterostructures to provide the thermal stability and form (particle shape) needed for use in heterogeneous fixed-bed and fluid-bed reactors. The new catalysts produced will be assessed using micro-scale reactors (catalyst loading < 100 mg) so as to obtain the mechanistic and kinetic information needed to extend our understanding of the relationship between the 2D nanostructures and their activity or selectivity for the chosen thermocatalytic reactions. Scale-up and catalyst stability of the most promising candidate catalysts will be assessed in the Biorefining Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC) demonstration facility at UBC, recently funded by CFI. This facility will provide slip-streams of synthesis gas and bio-oil to larger scale reactors (catalyst loading 10-25 grams) to determine catalytic performance over extended periods of time (ca. 30 days) under conditions that will closely mimic industrial operations. **