Methanol oxidation on the PtPd(111) alloy surface: A density functional theory study

The mechanisms of methanol (CH₃OH) oxidation on the PtPd(111) alloy surface were systematically investigated by using density functional theory calculations. The energies of all the involved species were analyzed. The results indicated that with the removal of H atoms from adsorbates on PtPd(111) surface, the adsorption energies of (i) CH₃OH, CH₂OH, CHOH, and COH increased linearly, while those of (ii) CH₃OH, CH₃O, CH₂O, CHO, and CO exhibited odd‐even oscillation. On PtPd(111) surface, CH₃OH underwent the preferred initial C H bond scission followed by successive dehydrogenation and then CHO oxidation, that is, CH₃OH → CH₂OH → CHOH → CHO → CHOOH → COOH → CO₂. Importantly, the rate‐determining step of CH₃OH oxidation was found to switch from CO → CO₂ on Pt(111) to COOH → CO₂ + H on PtPd(111) with a lower energy barrier of 0.96 eV. Moreover, water also decomposed into OH more easily on PtPd(111) than on Pt(111). The calculated results indicate that alloying Pt with Pd could efficiently improve its catalytic performance for CH₃OH oxidation through altering the primary pathways from the CO path on pure Pt to the non‐CO path on PtPd(111).     

The preferred reaction path for the oxidation of methanol by PQQ-containing methanol dehydrogenase: addition-elimination versus hydride-transfer mechanism

The catalytic oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde by pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-containing methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) was investigated at density functional B3LYP level. The still controversial addition-elimination and hydride-transfer reaction mechanisms were analysed. Computations performed in the gas phase and in the protein environment indicated that both suggested reaction sequences involve very high activation barriers. In this situation, the reactions should have scarce probability to occur and the preference for one of the two paths cannot be stated. Here, we will show how some corrections to the successive steps in the addition-elimination mechanism can sensibly decrease the activation barriers height, making possible the determination of the MDH-preferred catalytic path.     

铂、钌共修饰碳纳米管电极的制备及对甲醇的电催化氧化

碳纳米管以其独特的结构,良好的电性能和机械性能吸引了众多的关注~([1]),被认为是潜在的异相催化剂载体 ~([2]).近来关于碳纳米管负载催化剂的合成及其在异相催化中应用的研究已见报道~([3]).     

甲醇浓度对被动式自呼吸直接甲醇燃料电池性能的影响

依据单电池测试结果和甲醇传质理论考察了甲醇溶液的浓度对被动式自呼吸直接甲醇燃料电池（DMFC）性能的影响.研究结果表明,电池的法拉第效率和能量转化效率会随着浓度的增大而降低,采用4mol/L的甲醇溶液实现了最大的放电功率13.9mW/cm^2,并能在60mA下稳定放电长达20h.这取决于电池运行过程中电极内部的甲醇传质和甲醇透过的共同作用.     

Single-crystalline C60 nanostructures by sonophysical preparation: tuning hollow nanobowls as catalyst supports for methanol oxidation

Large-scale single-crystalline hollow nanobowls of pure C(60) were prepared by applying a sonophysical strategy in a binary organic solution. Through the simple adjustment of the concentration of the C(60) /m-xylene solution and the volume ratio of m-xylene to acetonitrile, C(60) nanorings, nanoplates, nanorods, and nanowires were also selectively synthesized. The promise of the C(60) hollow structures as Pt catalyst supports is heightened by the significantly enhanced catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation for a given amount of C(60) used, which demonstrates their potential application in fuel cells.     

Quantum chemical modeling of enzymatic reactions: The case of histone lysine methyltransferase

Quantum chemical cluster models of enzyme active sites are today an important and powerful tool in the study of various aspects of enzymatic reactivity. This methodology has been applied to a wide spectrum of reactions and many important mechanistic problems have been solved. Herein, we report a systematic study of the reaction mechanism of the histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT) SET7/9 enzyme, which catalyzes the methylation of the N‐terminal histone tail of the chromatin structure. In this study, HKMT SET7/9 serves as a representative case to examine the modeling approach for the important class of methyl transfer enzymes. Active site models of different sizes are used to evaluate the methodology. In particular, the dependence of the calculated energies on the model size, the influence of the dielectric medium, and the particular choice of the dielectric constant are discussed. In addition, we examine the validity of some technical aspects, such as geometry optimization in solvent or with a large basis set, and the use of different density functional methods. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Reaction mechanisms of methanol oxidation by FeIVO biomimetic complex

Density functional theory calculations were carried out to investigate the reaction mechanism of methanol oxidation mediated by [(bpg)Fe^IVO]⁺ ( A ). Two models (CH₃CN‐bound ferryl model B and CH₃OH‐bound ferryl model C ) were also studied in this work to probe ligand effect. Mechanistically, both direct and concerted hydrogen transfer (DHT and CHT) pathways were explored. It is found that the initial step of methanol oxidation by A is C? H bond activation via a DHT pathway. Addition of different equatorial ligands has considerable influence on the reaction mechanisms. Methanol oxidation mediated by B commences via O? H bond activation; in sharp contrast, the oxidation mediated by C stems from C? H bond activation. Frontier molecular orbital analysis showed that the initial C? H bond activation by all these model complexes follows a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanism, whereas O? H bond activation proceeds via an HAT or proton transfer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Performance evaluation of nickel as anode catalyst for DMFC in acidic and alkaline medium

Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) research is highly focused due to its high energy density, portability and inexpensive. In the present study conventional platinum catalyst used for methanol oxidation is being replaced with nickel catalyst supported over nickel mesh. The electrode is synthesized by single step electro deposition technique. Synthesized electrode was characterized by SEM, EDAX and AFM techniques to know the surface morphology, composition and thickness of the catalyst respectively. The electro catalytic behavior of the nickel for methanol oxidation was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry technique. As the DMFC is compatible with both the acidic and alkaline electrolytes the working of the nickel mesh electrode is analyzed in both media. The results showed maximum current density of 0.025 and 0.030 A/cm² in alkaline and acidic medium respectively with less potential around 0.4 and 0.2 V. The other parameters such as varying the concentration of methanol, electrolyte medium, scan rate and thickness of the catalytic layer were analyzed and optimized.     

中空树枝状三氧化钨载铂催化剂对甲醇的电催化氧化性能研究

采用水热法和牺牲模板法相结合制备具有中空树枝结构的三氧化钨载体(d-WO₃),在其表面进一步负载活性成分Pt,得到纳米Pt/d-WO₃复合催化剂。采用X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、透射电镜(TEM)和比表面积和孔结构分析(BET)等对催化剂的形貌和结构进行了表征。结果表明,三氧化钨具有长6 μm和宽2 μm的中空树枝状结构,孔径分布主要集中在20~120 nm,比表面积为24 m²/g,平均粒径为7.2 nm的Pt纳米粒子均匀分布在其表面。采用循环伏安和计时电流法研究了Pt/d-WO₃催化剂在酸性溶液中对甲醇的电催化氧化性能。结果表明,Pt/d-WO₃催化剂比Pt/C和Pt/WO₃催化剂对甲醇有更高的电催化氧化活性和稳定性。d-WO₃所具有的中空介孔结构和双功能作用机理有利于甲醇在铂表面的直接脱氢氧化过程。     

Catalytic Activities of Au6, , and Clusters for CO oxidation: A density functional study

We have studied the CO oxidation over neutral, anionic, and cationic gold hexamer clusters using density functional theory which elucidates the effect of cluster charge state on the catalytic activity. Herein, we have considered the conventional bimolecular Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism with coadsorbed CO and O₂ at the neighboring sites in all the clusters. Among the three clusters, entails lower barriers during the various steps of the oxidation mechanism. The stability of all the species including the transition states with respect to the interacting species in indicates no thermal activation. Our study suggests better catalytic activity of as compared to the neutral and cationic counterparts. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

金催化CO氧化湿度增强效应的理论研究

实验发现纳米金催化的CO氧化有良好的湿度增强效应,但有关机制仍不清楚.我们应用密度泛函理论研究了湿度增强效应的微观机制,以Au4团簇为例,研究了金催化CO氧化的微观机理,考察了H2O在反应中的角色和作用.计算结果表明,H2O与Au4团簇一样,在反应中扮演催化剂的角色,参与反应的进行、改变反应历程、降低反应能垒.催化循环包含4个基元步骤：O2＋H2O→OOH＋OH,CO＋OOH→CO2＋OH,CO＋OH→COOH,和COOH＋OH→CO2＋H2O,其中自由基OOH和OH的形成是催化循环的速控步骤,其能垒为100.31kJ/mol,明显低于非水参与反应的能垒（161.41kJ/mol）.目前的结果合理地解释了实验观测的CO催化氧化的湿度增强效应,给出了其微观反应机制.     

铂催化甲醇氧化开始步骤的研究

用ab initio和密度泛函(DFT)方法研究甲醇在铂低指数晶面的脱氢步骤. 在经典的Bagotzky模型计算的基础上提出了三种新的吸附脱氢模型, 并通过计算证明了三种模型的可行性, 计算证实了原位波谱法检测到的甲醇在铂上脱氢的三种中间体, CHOH, CH₂OH和CH₃O. 得出了甲醇脱氢的根本原因在于形成的强Pt—H键, 且在Pt不同的晶面上, 催化性能及反应历程、中间产物都不同.     

三维结构氧化石墨烯载铂催化剂对甲醇电催化性能

喷雾干燥法制备具有三维结构的氧化石墨烯(PGO),在其表面进一步负载活性成分Pt,得到纳米Pt/PGO复合催化剂。采用X射线粉末衍射(XRD)、透视电镜(TEM)和扫描电镜(SEM)等对催化剂的形貌和结构进行表征。结果表明,PGO具有类似于长4-6μm和宽2.0-3.0μm的三维纸团结构,平均粒径为4.2 nm的Pt纳米粒子均匀分布在其表面。采用循环伏安和计时电流法研究了在酸性溶液中催化剂对甲醇的电催化氧化性能。结果表明,Pt/PGO催化剂对甲醇呈现出更高的电催化氧化活性和稳定性。PGO所具有的三维结构和双功能作用机理有利于甲醇在铂表面的电催化氧化过程的发生。     

Pt-Ni-P/Ti蜂窝状电极的制备及其催化甲醇氧化性能研究

Ti基体上,通过电沉积-置换的方法制备了具有蜂窝状结构的Pt-Ni-P/Ti催化电极.采用扫描电镜（SEM）、X射线衍射（XRD）对催化剂进行了表征.通过阳极线性伏安扫描法（LSV）、连续循环伏安法（CV）、预吸附单层CO溶出法研究了其甲醇氧化催化活性和抗CO中毒能力.SEM测试结果显示,非晶态Ni-P置换制备的Pt-Ni-P催化剂受“异地溶解-沉积”机理的影响而呈蜂窝状结构,而晶态Ni置换制备的Pt-Ni催化剂受“原位溶解-沉积”机理呈麦粒状.电化学测试结果表明,Pt-Ni-P/Ti电极在碱性介质中的甲醇氧化起始电位和CO氧化起始电位均比Pt-Ni/Ti电极更负,表明P掺杂可以增强Pt-Ni的甲醇氧化催化活性和抗CO中毒能力.     

用于直接甲醇燃料电池的高活性PtCo-CNT@TiO_2复合纳米阳极催化剂

采用溶胶凝胶法制备CNT@TiO_2载体,利用电沉积法制备用于直接甲醇燃料电池的PtCo-CNT@TiO_2阳极催化剂。采用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和电化学工作站对其进行表征。结果表明,PtCo-CNT@TiO_2复合纳米材料有明显的结晶,且金属粒子围绕在TiO_2包覆的碳纳米管的周围,用于直接甲醇燃料电池阳极催化剂具有较高的活性与稳定性。该PtCo-CNT@TiO_2催化剂的电化学比表面积为164 m~2/g,65℃时甲醇的氧化峰电流达到45 mA/cm~2,计时电流曲线表明300 s后PtCo-CNT@TiO_2的氧化电流趋于24 mA/cm~2,在碱性条件下甲醇的氧化峰电流为39.7 mA/cm~2。     

Direct partial oxidation of methane to methanol： Reaction zones and role of catalyst location

Direct partial oxidation of methane to methanol was investigated in a specially designed reactor. Methanol yield of about 7%-8% was obtained in gas phase partial oxidation. It was proposed that the reactor could be divided into three reaction zones, namely pre-reaction zone, fierce reaction zone, and post-reaction zone, when the temperature was high enough to initiate a reaction. The oxidation of methane proceeded and was completed mostly in the fierce reaction zone. When the reactant mixture entered the post-reaction zone, only a small amount of produced methanol would bring about secondary reactions, because molecular oxygen had been exhausted in the fierce reaction zone. A catalyst, if necessary, should be placed either in the pre-reaction zone, to initiate a partial oxidation reaction at a lower temperature, or in the fierce reaction zone to control the homogeneous free radical reaction.     

碳黑预处理对Pt/C催化剂对甲醇氧化电催化活性的影响

直接甲醇燃料电池(DMFC)由于具有较多的优点而受到广泛的关注. 但是碳载Pt (Pt/C)阳极催化剂电催化活性低是限制其应用的一个主要问题. 为了提高Pt/C催化剂对甲醇氧化的电催化性能, 分别用CO₂, 空气, H₂O₂或HNO₃对常用作为载体的Vulcan XC-72碳黑进行预处理. 结果表明, 在用CO₂, 空气, HNO₃, H₂O₂处理的及未处理的碳黑作载体制得的Pt/C催化剂电极上, 甲醇氧化峰的峰电流密度顺序为39, 33, 32, 20和18 mA•cm^－2, 表明用CO₂处理的碳载体制备的Pt/C催化剂对甲醇氧化有最好的电催化活性和稳定性. 其主要原因是用CO₂处理能减少碳黑表面的含氧基团和增加石墨化程度, 而使碳黑的电阻降低及Pt粒子在碳黑上的分散性变好.     

First-principles study on the effect of arsenic impurity on oxidation of pyrite surfaces

Arsenic (As) frequently exists in pyrite (FeS₂) in the form of impurities. The oxidation behavior of As in FeS₂ is important in environmental science, mineral processing, and other related fields. The adsorption behaviors of H₂O and O₂ molecules on the As-bearing pyrite (100) surface (As FeS₂(100)) are studied using the density functional theory (DFT). The results show that As prefers the S site on the pyrite (100) surface (FeS₂(100)). In the absence of O₂, an isolated H₂O molecule does not dissociate when adsorbed at an iron (Fe) site and is repelled at an As site. Furthermore, the surface area around the As atoms exhibits a hydrophobic behavior. Adsorption energy analysis reveals that the presence of As atoms is unfavorable for the adsorption of H₂O molecules on the pure FeS₂ surface, and that the adsorption of H₂O molecules on the As FeS₂(100) is physical adsorption. In the absence of H₂O, it is suggested that the O₂ molecule easily dissociates on both the pure FeS₂(100) and As FeS₂(100). The adsorption of O₂ on the As-bearing surface is weaker than that on the pure FeS₂(100). For the co-adsorption of H₂O and O₂, the adsorption energy on the As-bearing surface is more negative than that on the pure surface. This indicates that the presence of As promotes surface oxidation. Additionally, two  OH and O (AsO or SO) or  O (Fe O) species are formed on the surface of pyrite when the H₂O molecule is dissociated.