Engineering topics
Wang, Chao (ORCID:0000000173982090)
Publications and source records attributed to Wang, Chao (ORCID:0000000173982090).
Oxo dicopper anchored on carbon nitride for selective oxidation of methane
Abstract Selective conversion of methane (CH 4 ) into value-added chemicals represents a grand challenge for the efficient utilization of rising hydrocarbon sources. We report here dimeric copper centers supported on graphitic carbon nitride (denoted as Cu 2 @C 3 N 4 ) as advanced catalysts for CH 4 partial oxidation. The copper-dimer catalysts demonstrate high selectivity for partial oxidation of methane under both thermo- and photocatalytic reaction conditions, with hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and oxygen (O 2 ) being used as the oxidizer, respectively. In particular, the photocatalytic oxidation of CH 4 with O 2 achieves >10% conversion, and >98% selectivity toward methyl oxygenates and a mass-specific activity of 1399.3 mmol g Cu −1 h −1 . Mechanistic studies reveal that the high reactivity of Cu 2 @C 3 N 4 can be ascribed to symphonic mechanisms among the bridging oxygen, the two copper sites and the semiconducting C 3 N 4 substrate, which do not only facilitate the heterolytic scission of C-H bond, but also promotes H 2 O 2 and O 2 activation in thermo- and photocatalysis, respectively.
Ab Initio modeling of Near-Edge EELS spectra for chemisorbed molecules
Abstract Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) has recently been applied to probe chemisorbed molecules on metal nanostructures, but a fundamental understanding of the correlation between these spectra and the electronic structures of the adsorbates has been limited. We report here on the insights afforded by time-dependent density functional theory to decipher the energy loss near edge structure (ELNES) of EELS spectra associated with chemisorption. These first-principles calculations simulate the ELNES-EELS spectra for chemisorbed CO on various facets of Au and Pt. Computational predictions of key signatures such as the ‘red shift’ and reductions in the peak intensity of the 2 π * and 6 σ * peaks, as compared to free CO in the gas phase, are validated in comparison to experimentally collected EELS spectra. These signatures are revealed to arise from changes in the electronic structure in terms of unoccupied density of states associated with the chemisorption process. They are consistent with a Blyholder model that incorporates donation and back-donation of electrons. They are also characteristic of the chemisorption process, such as the choice of metal, site of adsorption and the coverage and distribution of adsorbates. Our simulations thus provide guidelines for the use of ELNES-EELS to characterize the atomic structure and adsorption property of nanostructured surfaces and facilitate the development of advanced nanomaterials for catalytic applications.