Novel nano-catalysts for potential industrial applications

我们的工业催化实验室康科迪亚大学最近开发了新的固体超强酸纳米催化剂，通过将液体超酸物种三氟酸成功地包裹到称为二氧化硅纳米盒的固体纳米基质中。本项目得到了NSERC的资助，包括两个部分：a)通过将强酸或超酸物种封装到铝和硅纳米盒中，或在相同的纳米盒中引入金属或金属氧化物来制备纳米结构催化剂，B)这些纳米催化剂在三种具有工业意义的催化反应中的应用：1)从生物质燃料中生产生物燃料(生物柴油)和生物添加剂：从纤维素废物(造纸废渣、农林残渣、木材残渣)中生产烷基乙酰丙酸酯(乙酯和甲基乙酰丙酸酯)。2)从生物乙醇中制备乙烯和烷基苯。3)制备用于生产乙烯和丙烯的新型纳米催化剂。合成纤维等石化行业的大批量产品。

New solid superacidic nano-catalysts have been recently developed in our Industrial Catalysis laboratory, Concordia University, by successfully encapsulating a liquid superacidic species, triflic acid, into a solid nano-sized matrix called silica nanoboxes.The present project whose funding is applied to NSERC, comprises two sections:a) Preparation of nano-structured catalysts by encapsulation of strong acidic or superacidic species into Al- and Si-nanoboxes, or introduction of metal or metal oxides into the same nanoboxes, or preparation of new bifunctional and hybrid catalysts in which these nanoboxes are the main catalyst components.b) Application of these nano-catalysts to three catalytic reactions of industrial interest:1) Production of bio-fuels (bio-diesels) and bio-additives to fuels from biomass: alkyl levulinates (ethyl and methyl levulinates) from cellulosic wastes (paper milling sludges, agricultural/forestry residues, wood residues).2) Ethylene and alkyl benzene from bio-ethanol.3) Preparation of novel nano-catalysts for the Thermocatalytic Cracking (TCC) for the production of ethylene and propylene, two important intermediates for plastics, synthetic fibers and other large-volume products for the petrochemical industry.