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Preliminary modeling of hydrogen diffusion, desorption, and adsorption for YH based on experiments. The model developed in Bison will then be used in coupled multiphysics simulation to get preliminary results for a prototypical microreactor.
During the internship, the student has studied and modeled hydrogen diffusion, desorption, and adsorption in ZrH and YH using Bison. The student will move towards coupling the model developed in Bison for hydrogen migration to the neutronic response obtained from Griffin for the unit cell of a prototypical microreactor. Due to the length of the report being short, only a small part of the YH modeling is being presented here.
Zn/H-ZSM-5 catalysts have been frequently investigated for propane dehydrogenation (PDH); however, the active site remains unresolved due to the complexity of the system. We employed in situ FTIR spectroscopy and a kinetics method to correlate the Zn speciation and PDH activity in Zn/H-ZSM-5 with two Si/Al ratios (15 and 39) and a range of Zn/Al ratios (0–1.7). Incremental additions of zinc show that Zn 2+ sites are preferentially formed on H-ZSM-5 over a fraction of paired Al sites followed by [Zn-O-Zn] 2+ and [ZnOH] + sites and then ZnO x clusters. The [Zn-OH] + and [Zn-O-Zn] 2+ sites in H-ZSM-5 are more active and selective than isolated Zn 2+ for PDH. [Zn-OH] + species sublimate over time on stream, leading to catalyst deactivation, while [Zn-O-Zn] 2+ species are stable even after high-temperature reduction (750 °C for 60 min). Three distinct Zn sites ([Zn-O-Zn] 2+ , Zn 2+ , and [ZnOH] + ) show a similar propane reaction order (close to 1) and H 2 reaction order (close to 0). Combined with the lack of Zn hydride when propane flows over the catalyst at 550 °C, it is concluded that propane adsorption and dissociation is a rate-determining step and H 2 desorption is fast. This work indicates that the preparation of H-ZSM-5 with abundant Al pairs may be a strategy to form stable and selective Zn/H-ZSM-5 catalysts for propane dehydrogenation. Furthermore, it is also highlighted that examining the effect of both metal/Al ratios and Al distribution of the zeolite is crucial in identifying the metal cations in metal–zeolite systems.
Binding energies of adsorbed CO and H are key descriptors governing the activity and selectivity of the co-electrolysis of CO 2 and H 2 O to produce syngas with desired CO/H 2 ratios. Palladium hydride (PdH), which forms in situ at negative overpotentials, has been identified as the active Pd phase for CO 2 reduction to syngas. Herein, binding energies of CO and H are determined using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of CO and H 2 from Pd(111), PdH/Pd(111), and Cu/PdH/Pd(111) under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. TPD results reveal that desorption of H 2 from subsurface PdH occurs at 460 K, while desorption from surface PdH is more facile at 320 K. CO desorption temperatures shift 20 K lower on PdH/Pd(111) compared to on Pd(111). The presence of 0.7 ML Cu further increases the desorption temperature of H 2 by 30 K while simultaneously reducing CO desorption temperatures by 70 K. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that CO adsorption onto Pd sites is hindered on the 0.7 ML Cu/PdH/Pd(111) surface while the kinetic barrier for H 2 desorption is increased. The trends in the binding energies of CO and H on model surfaces are consistent with electrochemical measurements of CuPd powder catalysts in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), where H 2 evolution is reduced while CO production is enhanced compared to unmodified Pd catalysts. Overall, the results from model surface studies (TPD and DFT) provide a prediction and explanation for the activity and CO/H 2 ratios observed in electrochemical experiments. This study also demonstrates that CuPd is a promising catalyst with reduced Pd-loading to produce CO-rich syngas.