Engineering topics
Tao, Franklin Feng
Publications and source records attributed to Tao, Franklin Feng.
A robust fuel cell operated on nearly dry methane at 500 °C enabled by synergistic thermal catalysis and electrocatalysis
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Synergy of Single-Atom Ni1 and Ru1 Sites on CeO2 for Dry Reforming of CH4
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Achieving Atomic Dispersion of Highly Loaded Transition Metals in Small-Pore Zeolite SSZ-13: High-Capacity and High-Efficiency Low-Temperature CO and Passive NO x Adsorbers
Synthesis of small-pore zeolitic materials with realistic loadings of transition metals atomically dispersed in the micropores has been a formidable challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a new simple and scalable route to high Pd and Pt loadings (>1 wt%) atomically dispersed in the micropores of a small-pore zeolite, SSZ-13. Unlike all previous methods that require addition of expensive transition metal precursor complexes into the synthesis gel and produce low loading of atomically dispersed species, this method does not require any complicated synthetic proce-dures. We determine the factors that govern the stabilization of M(II) species in the micropores of SSZ-13. Using a combined spectroscopic and DFT approach, we offer a unifying explana-tion for the discrepancies existing in available M-zeolite litera-ture. Moreover, we highlight the difference between the behavior of Pt and Pd during synthesis, and demonstrate that ionically dispersed Pd/SSZ-13 shows superior performance as a new class of environmentally important passive NOx Adsorber (PNA) material under practically relevant conditions. It thus represents the 2nd known metal-small pore zeolite material that has immediate industrial application, and the only known met-al-small pore zeolite material in which metal is close to 100 % utilized. In addition to NO x , the material performs remarkably for CO removal during cold start as well due to the formation of a mixed carbonyl-nitrosyl complex Pd(II)(CO)(NO).
Swellable Organically Modified Silica (SOMS) as a Catalyst Scaffold for Catalytic Treatment of Water Contaminated with Trichloroethylene
The properties of a swellable organically modified silica (SOMS) scaffold allowed us to synthesize “smart” catalysts with tunable accessibility of the active sites induced by organic swelling agents. Pd nanoparticles (NPs) deposited inside the swollen matrix of SOMS were shown to be selectively located on the interior surface, a surface which is only available through swelling. Techniques such as near ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP–XPS) and cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize Pd/SOMS in its swollen as well as unswollen state because their conventional counterparts do not preserve the swollen state of Pd/SOMS during spectral acquisition. The results obtained depicted significant differences between the unswollen and swollen state of Pd/SOMS. The most important difference is that Pd NPs became accessible on the surface after exposure to an organic compound. This indicates that the accessibility of the active sites can be controlled by changing the reaction environment, hence allowing a tunable accessibility induced by organic swelling agents. The effects of the extent of swelling on the catalytic activity were investigated by performing catalytic activity experiments in the presence of an organic swelling agent. Hydrodechlorination (HDC) of trichloroethylene (TCE), an important method of catalytic water abatement, was chosen as a model reaction. The catalytic performance was found to be proportional to the concentration of the organic swelling agent, indicating that the accessibility of active sites is related to the concentration of organic compounds. While the unavoidable reaction product HCl inhibited the commonly used HDC catalyst 1%Pd/Al 2 O 3 , 1%Pd/SOMS was able to maintain its rate throughout the reaction under the same conditions, indicating its resistance to the inhibition. Overall, a silica-based catalyst with tunable accessibility of the active sites induced by changes in the reaction environment can have significant implications for heterogeneous catalysis.
Dual reactor for in situ/operando fluorescent mode XAS studies of sample containing low-concentration 3d or 5d metal elements
Transition metal elements are the most important elements of heterogeneous catalysts used for chemical and energy transformations. Many of these catalysts are active at a temperature higher than 400 °C. For a catalyst containing a 3d or 5d metal element with a low concentration, typically their released fluorescence upon the K-edge or L-edge adsorption of X-rays is collected for the analysis of chemical and coordination environments of these elements. However, it is challenging to perform in situ/operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies of elements of low-energy absorption edges at a low concentration in a catalyst during catalysis at a temperature higher than about 450 °C. Here a unique reaction system consisting two reactors, called a dual reactor system, was designed for performing in situ or operando XAS studies of these elements of low-energy absorption edges in a catalyst at a low concentration during catalysis at a temperature higher than 450 °C in a fluorescent mode. This dual-reactor system contains a quartz reactor for preforming high-temperature catalysis up to 950 °C and a Kapton reactor remaining at a temperature up to 450 °C for collecting data in the same gas of catalysis. With this dual reactor, chemical and coordination environments of low-concentration metal elements with low-energy absorption edges such as the K-edge of 3d metals including Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu and L edge of 5d metals including W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, and Au can be examined through first performing catalysis at a temperature higher than 450 °C in the quartz reactor and then immediately flipping the catalyst in the same gas flow to the Kapton reactor remained up to 450 °C to collect data. The capability of this dual reactor was demonstrated by tracking the Mn K-edge of the MnO x /Na 2 WO 4 catalyst during activation in the temperature range of 300-900 °C and catalysis at 850 °C.
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Studies of Nanoparticles Dispersed in Static Liquid
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Promotion of catalytic selectivity on transition metal oxide through restructuring surface lattice
Pursuit of high catalytic selectivity is paramount in the design of catalysts for green chemical processes towards minimizing the production of undesired products. We demonstrated that catalytic selectivity for production of alkene through oxidative dehydrogenation of alkane on transition metal oxides can be promoted through tailoring the surface lattice of the oxide catalyst. Selectivity for production of ethylene through oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane on Co 3 O 4 nanocrystals can be substantially increased by 30%–35% via temperature-mediated reconstruction of surface lattice of Co 3 O 4 . Co 3 O 4 nanocrystals formed at 800 °C leads to smooth, flat crystal plane with predominantly exposed (111) facet in contrast to high Miller index (311) facet of Co 3 O 4 formed at ≤700 °C, revealed by environmental transmission electron microscopy. Isotope-labelled experiments suggest that the higher catalytic selectivity on the (111) facet results from the lower activity of its surface lattice oxygen atoms. Consistent with these experimental results, DFT calculations suggest low activity of surface lattice oxygen atoms and high activation barriers for adsorption and dissociation of C—H bond on the (111) surface in contrast to (311). Upon the activation of C—H on (311), the stronger binding of ethylene on more active, under-coordinated surface lattice oxygen atoms of (311) forms a robust “deprotonated ethylene glycol”-like intermediate on (311) with a rate-limiting desorption barrier to the formation of ethylene. Compared to (311), the kinetically favorable desorption of bound ethylene species from (111) surface well rationalized the higher selectivity for production of ethylene on (111) than (311). Here these findings demonstrate that temperature-mediated tailoring of the surface lattice for a transition metal oxide nanocatalyst is a promising approach in pursuing high selectivity in oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons.