Advances In Catalyst Supports II

A technical investigation commissioned by the members of the Catalytic Advances Program (CAP)

See PPT Deck here (as PDF) | See Report TofC here (as PDF)

Heterogeneous catalysis is an important aspect of the energy and chemical industries. Most chemical processes, both established and emerging, are performed using functional materials as catalysts. The goal of catalyst manufacturing is to produce the desired composition and structure of these materials, including methods to minimize catalyst deactivation/destruction, e.g., sintering (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Potential sintering mechanisms of metal (nano)particles on support surfaces.

Among the numerous important findings from the CAP report include:

The use of metal oxides as catalyst supports has shifted over the last century from natural to synthetic oxides.
Further progress in the development of ordered mesoporous materials has made it possible to develop new structures with tailor-made properties. Due to their flexible and tunable chemical composition and physical properties, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are suitable for a wide range of catalysis applications.
The development of hierarchical zeolites has been of interest to many researchers in recent years because their remarkable structural properties allow for a combination of shape selectivity and efficient mass transfer.
Even with established substrates such as alumina and silica, the path from “research catalyst” to real, “technical catalyst” is an empirical process.
Although non-oxide materials are an important and growing field in scientific research, one of the major drawbacks of many non-oxide materials is their relatively low stability (i.e., oxidizing conditions).
In some cases, carbon-based materials can eliminate or drastically reduce the amount of costly precious metals required in the application.
Transition metal carbides (TMC) and nitrides have found applications both as support materials and as active components.
As support materials, noble metals or noble metal oxides supported on TMCs have been employed for several types of electrocatalytic reactions.
Stability is an important issue for many non-oxide materials and often restricts their applications in large-scale or industrial processes. Despite these well-known problems, rarely are these disadvantages discussed in the literature. Furthermore, most publications lack an in-depth analysis on the alterations of the catalyst during the reaction as well as characterizations of the spent catalyst.

TCGR’s report, Advances in Catalyst Supports II, an update to the report delivered in 2014 (as Advances in Catalyst Supports I), summarizes the driving forces for the continued research on traditional materials and the introduction of new supports such as zeolites, ordered mesoporous carbon, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), and their relevance to large scale productions. The importance of the nature and role of interactions between the support and the active phase are addressed, followed by the basic principles of support material design and the current methods by which catalysts and supports are produced. The challenges of going from the bench top to an industrial reactor are also discussed.

The PPT Deck, as well as a PDF containing the complete TofC, List of Figures and Tables, are available for download at https://www.catalystgrp.com/tcg-resources/member-programs/catalytic-advances-program/advance-in-catalyst-support-ii/

More information about this report and other services of the CAP Program can be seen at https://www.catalystgrp.com/tcg-resources/member-programs/catalytic-advances-program/. Call +1-215-628-4447 or e-mail Chris Dziedziak at cdziedziak@catalystgrp.com, and we’ll be happy to discuss these and other interesting membership benefits.

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The Catalyst Group Resources (TCGR), a member of The Catalyst Group, is dedicated to monitoring and analyzing technical and commercial developments in catalysis as they apply to the global refining, petrochemical, fine/specialty chemical, pharmaceutical, polymer/elastomer and environmental industries.

See PPT Deck here (as PDF) | See Report TofC here (as PDF)

More information about this report and other services of the CAP Program can be seen at
https://www.catalystgrp.com/tcg-resources/member-programs/catalytic-advances-program/

Call +1-215-628-4447 or e-mail Chris Dziedziak at cdziedziak@catalystgrp.com, and we’ll be happy to discuss these and other interesting membership benefits.

* * * * *