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替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是由催化剂的表面化学性质决定的，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最近超薄二维（2D）纳米材料、薄片状结构（几个原子或层厚）和原油的发展，这两种材料都很容易从木材废料等第二代生物质中生产出来。***二维材料在非均相热催化反应器中的应用受到限制，因为它们通常是作为无负载的纳米结构合成的。因此，它们在高温下不稳定，不易形成球体、颗粒或挤出物，可用于非均相（固定床或流化床）反应器。本研究将研究二维异质结构的制备，以提供在非均质固定床和流化床反应器中使用所需的热稳定性和形式（颗粒形状）。新生产的催化剂将使用微反应器（催化剂负载< 100 mg）进行评估，以便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二维纳米结构与其活性或选择性之间关系的理解。最有希望的候选催化剂的放大和催化剂稳定性将在UBC生物精炼研究与创新中心（BRIC）示范设施中进行评估，该示范设施最近由CFI资助。该设施将为大型反应器（催化剂负载10-25克）提供合成气和生物油的滑动流，以在接近模拟工业操作的条件下，在较长时间（约30天）内确定催化性能。**

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 (2, 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. **