Engineering of spinels for catalysis

本研究计划的目标是开发微波或感应场辅助催化技术，利用磁性尖晶石进行非均相气相反应。创新是利用这样一个事实，即只有纳米颗粒上的反应位点需要处于更高的温度下，以提高表面反应的效率和活性。这种方法将能够快速加热到给定的再生温度并使烧结最小化。拟议的5年研究项目旨在合成，表征和研究各种尖晶石铁氧体的纳米结构，即MxFe 3-xO 4，其中M = Ni，Co，Mn，Zn或其混合物。由于具有磁性且对微波敏感，这些纳米材料被认为是用于生产适用于辅助催化的混合纳米结构的构建块。* 铁尖晶石将使用溶液喷雾热等离子体生产，这是我们实验室中成熟的技术。已知铁尖晶石的催化性质与金属原子对尖晶石晶格的特定位点的亲和力直接相关。将使用一系列互补的表征方法，如X射线衍射（XRD）、X射线荧光和电子显微镜，研究这些金属位点的相互作用。这些材料的热化学将使用operando技术进行研究，使材料在工作条件下进行探测，以重现反应下尖晶石的行为，并设计更好的尖晶石适应选定的反应。使用气体流动池，将使用操作XRD、X射线吸收光谱（XAS，在加拿大光源，萨斯卡通）和热重分析法探测铁尖晶石结构的变化。由于所提出的金属尖晶石（Mn、Fe、Co、Ni和Zn）在原子序数上如此接近，结构的更精细细节仍然隐藏在XRD分析中。然而，如果用中子而不是X射线探测，预计这些元素的对比度会更强。另一个目标是设计和建造一个适应加拿大中子散射研究所束线的环境站，以便全面了解这些复杂尖晶石在反应期间的气/固和固态相互作用。拟议的研究项目是实验室长期目标的基石：开发基于新型混合材料的技术。该研究项目涵盖了整个创新周期，从新型纳米材料的设计和合成，到使能技术的概念验证。这项研究的成果预计将通过设计新型纳米材料来提高催化转化过程的能源效率，并在纳米材料科学、化学工程和材料物理学的交叉领域提供培训。

The goal of the research program is to develop the technology of microwave or induction field assisted catalysis using magnetic spinels for heterogeneous gas-phase reactions. The innovation is to take advantage of the fact that only the reaction site on the nanoparticles needs to be at higher temperature to improve the efficiency and activity of surface reactions. Such process would enable fast heating to a given regeneration temperature and minimize sintering. The proposed 5-year research project intends to synthesize, characterize and study nanostructures of various spinel ferrites, namely MxFe3-xO4, with M = Ni, Co, Mn, Zn or mixture thereof. Being magnetic and susceptible to microwave, these nanomaterials are being considered as building blocks for producing hybrid nanostructures adapted for assisted catalysis. ***The ferrospinels will be produced using solution-spray thermal plasma, a technique well-established in our lab. The catalytic properties of the ferrospinels are known to be directly related to the affinity of the metals atoms towards specific sites of the spinel crystalline lattice. These metal-site interactions will be investigated using an array of complementary characterization methods, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence and electron microscopy.***The thermochemistry of these materials will be investigated using operando techniques, allowing the materials to be probed in working conditions to reproduce the behavior of spinels under reaction and design better spinels adapted to selected reactions. Using a gas flow cell, the change of the ferrospinels structure will be probed using operando XRD, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS, at the Canada Light Source, Saskatoon), and thermogravimetry.***With the proposed metal spinels (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Zn) so close in atomic number, finer details of the structure remain hidden from XRD analysis. However, a stronger contrast for these elements is expected if probed with neutron rather than X-rays. Another objective is to design and build an ambient station adapted to the beam line of the Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS) in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the gas/solid and solid-state interactions of these complex spinels during reaction.***The proposed research project is cornerstone to the long-term objective of the lab: the development of technologies based on novel hybrid materials. This research project covers the entire innovation cycle, from the design and synthesis of novel nanomaterials, to the proof of concept of an enabling technology.***The outcome of this research is expected to improve the energy efficiency of catalytic conversion processes by engineering novel nanomaterials and provide training in fields at the crossroads of nanomaterials science, chemical engineering and materials physics.