RUI: Catalytic Aerogel Materials

非技术描述：现有的催化转化器系统使用稀有贵重金属催化废气。减少这些金属的使用有可能改变汽车污染清理方法。这对美国具有重要的经济意义，因为一个典型的汽车催化转化器含有大约100美元的贵金属，每年在美国销售的汽车总成本增加约7亿美元。此外，它具有重大的环境和地缘政治影响；贵金属的开采对环境有害，而且许多最好的资源都在美国以外。气凝胶是重量轻的纳米多孔材料，具有很大的表面积和良好的热性能。催化气凝胶材料具有取代贵金属的潜力，同时比目前的汽车催化剂具有成本效益和环境友好性。该项目资助了一个由联合学院机械工程和化学专业的教师和本科生组成的跨学科团队，他们正在进行催化气凝胶材料的基础研究，并展示这些材料作为催化剂的用途，以减轻汽车污染。技术细节：催化活性气凝胶通过在内燃机尾气后处理应用中消除稀有贵金属的使用，有可能改变汽车污染缓解技术。气凝胶独特的物理性质，包括高表面积、低密度和良好的热稳定性，为用作汽车催化剂提供了显著的优势。联合学院的研究人员开发了一种新的快速超临界萃取（RSCE）工艺来制造气凝胶。这一工艺为经济有效地制备催化气凝胶材料以及将其铸造成适合汽车催化实际应用的形式提供了显著的潜在优势。在这个项目中，联合学院的跨学科团队正在进行一系列系统和迭代的实验，以制备、测试和优化催化活性气凝胶材料，最终应用于汽车污染缓解。具体来说，这个团队是：(1)对气凝胶前驱体化学和工艺条件对通过RSCE工艺制备的催化气凝胶材料的整体物理性质的影响有了基本的了解；(2)通过强度测试和对催化气凝胶材料的热稳定性、流动特性、疏水性和催化能力的测量，扩展了对催化气凝胶材料性能的认识；(3)证明RSCE催化气凝胶材料可以制造成坚固耐用的形式，足以在实际使用条件下作为三向汽车催化剂。该项目为联合大学机械工程系和化学系的本科生提供了令人兴奋的相关跨学科研究经验，鼓励他们考虑研究生学习和研究职业，从而对美国的科学基础设施产生积极影响。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Existing catalytic converter systems use rare precious metals to catalyze exhaust gas. Decreasing the use of these metals has the potential to transform automotive pollution clean-up methods. This has important economic implications for the nation because a typical automobile catalytic converter contains about $100 of precious metals, adding about 700 million dollars per year to the total cost of cars sold in the US. Moreover, it has major environmental and geopolitical implications; mining of precious metals is environmentally damaging, and many of the best sources are outside of the US. Aerogels are lightweight, nano-porous materials with lots of surface area and good thermal properties. Catalytic aerogel materials have the potential to replace the precious metals while being both cost-effective and environmentally friendlier than current automotive catalysts. This project funds an interdisciplinary team of faculty and undergraduate students in Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry at Union College who are undertaking fundamental studies of catalytic aerogel materials and demonstrating the utility of these materials as catalysts to alleviate automotive pollution. TECHNICAL DETAILS: Catalytically active aerogels have the potential to transform automotive pollution mitigation technologies by eliminating the use of rare precious metals in internal combustion engine exhaust after-treatment applications. Aerogels' unique physical properties, including high surface area, low density and good thermal stability, offer significant advantages for use as automotive catalysts. Union College researchers have developed a novel rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE) process for fabricating aerogels. This process offers significant potential advantages for cost effectively preparing catalytic aerogel materials, and for casting them in forms suited to practical applications in automotive catalysis. In this project the interdisciplinary Union College team is undertaking a systematic and iterative series of experiments to prepare, test and optimize catalytically active aerogel materials for eventual applications in automotive pollution mitigation. Specifically, the team is: (1) developing a fundamental understanding of the effect of aerogel precursor chemistry and processing conditions on the bulk physical properties of catalytic aerogel materials prepared via their RSCE process, (2) extending knowledge of the performance of catalytic aerogel materials through strength testing and measurements of the thermal stability, flow-through characteristics, hydrophobicity and catalytic ability of the catalytic aerogel materials, and (3) demonstrating that RSCE catalytic aerogel materials can be fabricated into forms rugged and robust enough for ultimate application as three-way automotive catalysts under realistic service conditions. This project provides undergraduate students from Union's Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry Departments with exciting and relevant cross-disciplinary research experiences, which encourages them to consider graduate studies and careers in research and, therefore, impacts positively the US scientific infrastructure.