Effect of the composition and structure of titanosilicas on their photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methylene blue

A comparison is made of the catalytic activity of the titanosilicas produced by pyrogenic synthesis and by the deposition of TiO₂ on pyrogenic SiO₂ in the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue (MB). The deposited titanosilicas exhibit high catalytic activity in the decomposition of MB as a result both of textural features and of the presence mainly of the anatase phase in the deposited TiO₂ compared with the pyrogenic titanosilicas. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 23–28, January–February, 2006.     

Regulation of Strong Metal-Support Interaction by Alkaline Earth Metal Salts

Classical strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is of significant importance to heterogeneous catalysis, where electronic promotion and encapsulation of noble metal by reducible support are two main intrinsic properties of SMSI. However, the excessive encapsulation will inevitably hamper the contact between active sites and reactant, leading to reduced activity in catalysis. Herein, alkaline earth metal salts are employed to depress the encapsulation of Ru nanoparticles in Ru/TiO₂ catalyst in the present study. Thermodynamic calculation, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and chemisorption results show that the alkaline earth metal salts could successfully prevent the migration of TiO_2-x overlayer to Ru nanoparticles in Ru/TiO₂ catalyst via in situ formation of titanates, resulting in high exposure of active metal. Meanwhile, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) results reveal that an even stronger electron donation from the reduced support to Ru nanoparticles is achieved. As a result, the alkaline earth metal salts-doped Ru/TiO₂ catalysts exhibit superior activity in catalytic hydrogenation of aromatics, which is in contrast to the pristine Ru/TiO₂ catalyst that shows negligible activity under the same conditions due to the excess encapsulation of Ru nanoparticles in Ru/TiO₂ catalyst.     

Preparation of Ni/TiO2 Nanoparticles and Their Catalytic Performance on the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

Metal/oxide nanoparticles are attractive because of their special structure and better properties. The Ni/TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared by a liquid phase chemical reduction method in this paper. The obtained‐products were characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that Ni particles in Ni/TiO₂ nanoparticles exhibit better dispersion and the size of most Ni particles is 10 nm or so. The catalytic activity of Ni/TiO₂ nanoparticles on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was investigated by simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG‐DTA). Results show that composite process of Ni and TiO₂ can improve the catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles on the thermal decomposition of AP, which is mainly attributed to the improvement of Ni dispersion in Ni/TiO₂ nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of Ni/TiO₂ nanoparticles increases with increasing the weight ratio of Ni to AP.     

Effects of titanium silicalite and TiO2 nanocomposites on supported Co‐based catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

Titanium silicalite (TS) and TiO₂ nanocomposites were prepared by mixing TS and TiO₂ with different ratios in ethanol. They were impregnated with 15 wt% Co loading to afford Co‐based catalysts. Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) performance of these TS–TiO₂ nanocomposite‐supported Co‐based catalysts was studied in a fixed‐bed tubular reactor. The results reveal that the Co/TS–TiO₂ catalysts have better catalytic performance than Co/TS or Co/TiO₂ each with a single support, showing the synergistic effect of the binary TS–TiO₂ support. Among the TS–TiO₂ nanocomposite‐supported Co‐based catalysts, Co/TS–TiO₂‐1 presents the highest activity. These catalysts were characterized using N₂ adsorption–desorption measurements, X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H₂ temperature‐programmed reduction, H₂ temperature‐programmed desorption and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the position of the active component has a significant effect on the catalytic activity. In the TS–TiO₂ nanocomposites, cobalt oxides located at the new pores developed between TS and TiO₂ can exhibit better catalytic activity. Also, a positive relationship is observed between Co dispersion and FTS catalytic performance for all catalysts. The catalytic activity is improved on increasing the dispersion of Co.     

Structural Evolution of Anatase-Supported Platinum Nanoclusters into a Platinum-Titanium Intermetallic Containing Platinum Single Atoms for Enhanced Catalytic CO Oxidation

Strong metal-support interactions characteristic of the encapsulation of metal particles by oxide overlayers have been widely observed on large metal nanoparticles, but scarcely occur on small nanoclusters (<2 nm) for which the metal-support interactions remain elusive. Herein, we study the structural evolution of Pt nanoclusters (1.5 nm) supported on anatase TiO₂ upon high-temperature H₂ reduction. The Pt nanoclusters start to partially evolve into a CsCl-type PtTi intermetallic compound when the reduction temperature reaches 400 °C. Upon 700 °C reduction, the PtTi nanoparticles are exclusively formed and grow epitaxially along the TiO₂ (101) crystal faces. The thermodynamics of the formation of PtTi via migration of reduced Ti atoms into Pt cluster is unraveled by theoretical calculations. The thermally stable PtTi intermetallic compound, with single-atom Pt isolated by Ti, exhibits enhanced catalytic activity and promoted catalytic durability for CO oxidation.     

Preparation of Mixed Co and Cu Oxides via Thermal Decomposition of Their Oxalates,and Study of Their Catalytic Properties

Mixed oxides were prepared by the thermal decomposition of the oxalates of cobalt(II) and copper(II) coprecipitated from aqueous solution or made by mechanical mixing. The compositions and structures of the oxides were confirmed by means of TG and X-ray powder diffraction spectroscopy. The catalytic behaviour of the oxides obtained was studied by using the decomposition of H₂O₂ as a model reaction. The results were compared with those on the oxides produced from the thermal decomposition of mechanically mixed oxalates. The catalytic activities of the mixed oxides were found to be lower than that of pure cobalt oxide, but higher than that of copper oxide. This result was interpreted in terms of the relative standard reduction potential of the catalyst as compared with that of H₂O₂. The catalytic activity of the mixed oxides obtained from the coprecipitate was found to be lower than that of the oxides obtained from the mechanical mixture at the same temperature. As the temperature of preparation was increased, the catalytic activities of the oxides obtained decreased. This was attributed to the solid-solid interactions, which gave a new phase with lower catalytic activity than those of the interacting phases. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nb-TiO2 supported Pt cathode catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The Nb-doped TiO₂ nanostructure (Nb-TiO₂) was prepared as a support of metal catalyst in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Using the Nb-TiO₂ nanostructure support, we prepared the Nb-TiO₂ supported catalyst. The Nb-TiO₂ supported Pt catalyst (Pt/Nb-TiO₂) showed the well dispersion of Pt catalysts (∼3 nm) on the Nb-TiO₂ nanostructure supports (∼10 nm). The Pt/Nb-TiO₂ showed an excellent catalytic activity for oxygen reduction compared with carbon supported Pt cathode catalyst. The enhanced catalytic activity of Pt/Nb-TiO₂ in electrochemical half cell measurement may be mainly due to well dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on Nb-TiO₂ nanosized supports. In addition, from XANES spectra of Pt L edge obtained with the supported catalysts, the improved catalytic activity of Pt/Nb-TiO₂ for oxygen reduction may be caused by an interaction between oxide support and metal catalyst.     

Three-dimensionally ordered macro-porous Pt/TiO2 catalyst used for water-gas shift reaction

Three-dimensionally ordered macro-porous （3DOM） Pt/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by template and impregnation methods, and the resultant samples were characterized by using TG-DTA, XRD, SEM, TEM, and TPR techniques. The catalytic performance for water-gas shift （WGS） reaction was tested, and the influences of some conditions, such as reduction temperature of catalysts, the amount of Pt loadings and space velocity on catalytic performance were investigated. It was shown that Pt particles were homogeneously dispersed on 3DOM TiO2. The reduction of TiO2 surface was important for the catalytic performance. The activity test results showed that the 3DOM Pt/TiO2 catalysts exhibited very good catalytic performance for WGS reaction even at high space velocity, which was owing to the better mass transfer of 3DOM porous structure besides the high intrinsic activity of Pt/TiO2.     

Noble‐Metal‐Free Photocatalytic H2 Generation: Active and Inactive ‘Black’ TiO2 Nanotubes and Synergistic Effects

Over the past five years a number of different synthesis approaches has been reported to obtain so‐called ‘black’ titania. One of the outstanding features of the material is that certain synthesis processes lead to the formation of an intrinsic co‐catalytic center and thus enable noble‐metal free photocatalytic H₂‐generation. In the present work, using TiO₂ nanotube layers, we compare three common ‘blackening’ approaches, namely i) the original high‐pressure hydrogenation (HPT‐H₂), ii) a classic high temperature reduction in Ar, and iii) an electrochemical (cathodic) reduction. We demonstrate that except for high pressure hydrogenation also cathodic reduction leads to an activation of TiO₂ ‐ that is, it exhibits noble‐metal‐free photocatalytic H₂ generation. Moreover, we show that a combination of cathodic reduction/high pressure hydrogenation leads to a synergistic effect, that is, a significant enhancement of the combined co‐catalytic activity.     

Selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia into nitrogen and water vapour over transition metals modified Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>, TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Copper or iron supported on commercially available oxides, such as γ-Al₂O₃, TiO₂ (anatase) and monoclinic tetragonal ZrO₂ (mt-ZrO₂) were tested as catalysts for selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia into nitrogen and water vapour (NH₃-SCO) in the low temperature range. Different commercial oxides were used in this study to determine the influence of the specific surface area, acidic nature of the support and crystalline phases as well as of the type of species and aggregation state of transition metals on the catalytic performance in selective ammonia oxidation. Copper modified oxide supports were found to be more active and selective to nitrogen than catalysts impregnated with iron. Activities of both transition metal modified samples decreased in the following order: mt-ZrO₂, TiO₂ (anatase), γ-Al₂O₃. Quantitative total ammonia conversion was achieved with the Cu/ZrO₂ catalytic system at 400°C. Characterisation techniques, e.g. H₂-temperature programmed reduction, UV-VIS-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, suggest that easily reducible copper oxide species are important in achieving high catalytic performances at low temperatures.     

Titanium Dioxide‐Grafted Copper Complexes: High‐Performance Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline Media

The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathodes of fuel cells significantly hampers fuel cell performance. Therefore, the development of high‐performance, non‐precious‐metal catalysts as alternatives to noble metal Pt‐based ORR electrocatalysts is highly desirable for the large‐scale commercialization of fuel cells. TiO₂‐grafted copper complexes deposited on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) form stable and efficient electrocatalysts for the ORR. The optimized catalyst composite CNTs@TiO₂–ZA–[Cu(phen)(BTC)] shows surprisingly high selectivity for the 4 e^? reduction of O₂ to water (approximately 97 %) in alkaline solution with an onset potential of 0.988 V vs. RHE, and demonstrates superior stability and excellent tolerance for the methanol crossover effect in comparison to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. The copper complexes were grafted onto the surface of TiO₂ through coordination of an imidazole‐containing ligand, zoledronic acid (ZA), which binds to TiO₂ through its bis‐phosphoric acid anchoring group. Rational optimization of the copper catalyst’s ORR performance was achieved by using an electron‐deficient ligand, 5‐nitro‐1,10‐phenanthroline (phen), and bridging benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxylate (BTC). This facile approach to the assembly of copper catalysts on TiO₂ with rationally tuned ORR activity will have significant implications for the development of high‐performance, non‐precious‐metal ORR catalysts.     

低温静电自组装法制备贵金属修饰TiO_2纳米结构薄膜及其增强的光催化性能(英文)

以碱-水热法在金属Ti片上原位生长了TiO2纳米结构(纳米花和纳米线)薄膜,并采用低温静电自组装方法将超细贵金属(金、铂、钯)纳米颗粒均匀沉积于多孔TiO2薄膜上.负载于Ti片上的贵金属/TiO2纳米结构薄膜具有一体化结构、多孔架构和高光催化活性.超高分辨率场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)直接观察表明贵金属纳米颗粒在TiO2表面分布均匀,且颗粒之间相互分离,金、铂、钯纳米颗粒的平均粒径分别约为4.0、2.0和10.0nm.俄歇电子能谱(AES)纵深成分分析表明贵金属不仅沉积于薄膜表面,且大量分布于TiO2纳米结构薄膜内部,其深度超过580 nm.X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析表明,经300°C下在空气中热处理后,纳米金仍保持金属态,纳米铂部分被氧化成PtOabs,而钯粒子则完全被氧化成氧化钯(PdO).以低温静电自组装法沉积贵金属,贵金属负载量可通过调节组装时间与溶胶pH值来控制.光催化降解甲基橙的结果表明,沉积的纳米金和铂能显著增加TiO2纳米结构薄膜的光催化活性,说明金和铂粒子可促进光生载流子的分离;但负载的PdO对TiO2薄膜的光催化性能增强几乎无作用.     

Metal oxide promoted TiO2 catalysts for photo-assisted selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3

The photo-assisted selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH₃ (Photo-SCR) was performed over TiO₂ modified by supporting 1 wt% of various transition metal (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ta or W) oxides aiming at the improvement of the photo-SCR activity. The addition of Nb, Mo or W oxide to TiO₂ was found to enhance the photo-SCR activity. We have reported that the amount of acid sites on TiO₂ is one of the key factors to the photo-SCR activity. The increase in the activity depends on the enhancement of acidity of catalyst by the addition of Nb, Mo or W oxide. In contrast, the addition of V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni or Cu oxide to TiO₂ lowered the photo-SCR activity, although addition of metal cations also changed the acidity of TiO₂. We guess that the reduction of the activity was caused by two reasons; the first is that the sites newly formed on these transition metal oxides is not photoactive and the second is that TiO₂ supporting V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni or Cu oxides had low stabilities under the reaction conditions, i.e., the chemical state of the cations changed during the reaction. Therefore, we concluded that the increase in the acid sites that are active sites for photo-SCR and the stability of the catalysts are important for the photo-SCR.     

Fe Supported Catalysts Prepared by The Sol-Gel Method. Characterization and Evaluation in Phenol Abatement

Iron supported catalysts containing 10 wt% of iron, as oxide, on TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ have been prepared by the sol gel method and the traditional method based of the impregnation of the support with the metal precursor on commercial and sol-gel supports. The samples were characterised by measuring the specific area (S _BET), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), electrophoretic migration (IP), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The catalytic activity was measured in a batch reactor using ozone as oxidizing agent. It was found presence of highly dispersed iron oxide in the samples prepared by cogelation, whereas in those prepared by impregnation of the iron precursor, the dispersion was very poor. Catalytic activity indicates that phenol is degraded with a low mineralization to CO_2.     

Tuning crystal structure of iridium-incorporated titanium dioxide nanosupport and its influence on platinum catalytic performance in direct ethanol fuel cells

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has recently been used as a promising support for platinum (Pt)-based catalysts; however, its very low electrical conductivity and understanding the effect of the TiO₂ structure on Pt electrocatalytic performance for ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR) are major challenges in direct ethanol fuel cells. This study reports an easy and green approach to control the crystal structures of a robust iridium-incorporated TiO₂ nanomaterial and its effect on the Pt electrocatalytic performance for EOR. A green hydrothermal route is used to fabricate iridium-modified TiO₂ nanosupports with different structures by controlling the reaction temperature and time as well as solution pH without using further calcination, followed by the anchoring of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) via a surfactant-free modified reduction route. The experimental results indicate that the pure structure of the iridium-modified TiO₂ nanosupport can easily be obtained by controlling the solution pH. In terms of EOR, all prepared catalysts show more effective performance than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Among the prepared catalysts, the Pt anchored on the rutile iridium-incorporated TiO₂ exhibits higher EOR performance than on the anatase iridium-incorporated TiO₂ nanosupport, with negative onset potential, high current density, and electrochemical stability. The enhancement is assigned to the great adsorption and desorption ability as well as the high natural resistance to metal NPs ripening on (110) facets of the rutile structure compared with the (101) facets of the anatase structure. This exploration can offer an efficient route for tuning the structure of metal oxides and understanding the effect of the structure of the TiO₂-based support on the Pt catalytic performance.     

Preparation of disk‐like Pt/CeO2‐p‐TiO2 catalyst derived from MIL‐125(Ti) for excellent catalytic performance

A feasible strategy is reported for the synthesis of a disk‐like Pt/CeO₂‐p‐TiO₂ catalyst derived from the titanium‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) MIL‐125(Ti) through a few valid steps. To verify the successful synthesis and structural features of the Pt/CeO₂‐p‐TiO₂ catalyst, as‐prepared samples were characterized using several techniques. The characterizations demonstrated that MOF‐derived porous TiO₂ was appropriate for application as a support owing to its moderate surface area (101 m² g^?1) and suitable pore size (6 nm). Moreover, to study the effect of calcination temperature on the catalytic performance, the obtained catalyst was calcined at various temperatures. It was found that Pt/CeO₂‐p‐TiO₂ calcined at 550 °C exhibited the highest catalytic performance, evaluated by means of the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol monitored by UV–visible spectra. Furthermore, this catalyst showed good reusability with a conversion of 94% even after six cycles. Finally, a possible reaction mechanism was proposed to explain the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol to 4‐aminophenol over the Pt/CeO₂‐p‐TiO₂ catalyst.     

Co-SrTiO3上光催化分解水制氢的性能研究

氢能在使用过程中不会给环境带来任何污染,是未来最理想的能源。但目前的氢气生产方法能耗较高,同时伴随着严重的环境污染,显然不适合大规模生产能源用氢气。洁净化生产氢气方法的开发备受世人的关注,吸引了大量的科研人员从事这方面的研究。其中以半导体氧化物为催化剂,光催化分解水制氢被认为是最有前途的方法。经过几十年的努力,取得了很大的进步,先后开发出在紫外光照射下可以将蒸馏水分解为氢气和氧气的光催化剂,如TiO2犤1犦、SrTiO3犤2犦、Na2Ti6O13犤3犦、BaTi4O9犤4犦、K2La2Ti3O10犤5犦、K4Nb6O17犤6犦、ZrO2犤7犦等;可见…     

Preparation and characterization of mesoporous TiO2-CeO2 nanopowders respond to visible wavelength

Mesoporous TiO₂-CeO₂ nanopowders responding to visible wavelength were synthesized by using a surfactant assisted sol-gel technique. They were obtained using metal alkoxide precursors modified with acetylacetone (ACA) and laurylamine hydrochloride (LAHC) as surfactant. The samples were characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption isotherm, SEM, TEM, and selected area electron diffraction (SAED), respectively. The 95 mol% TiO₂-5 mol% CeO₂ system yielded single anatase phase, however, further addition of the CeO₂ formed cubic CeO₂ structure while anatase TiO₂ decreased. Additions of 5 and 10 mol% CeO₂ increased the surface area, but those of 25, 50, and 75 mol% CeO₂ did not affect it very much. By using this mixed metal oxides system, TiO₂ can be modified to respond to the visible wavelength. The mixed metal oxides had catalytic activity (evaluating the formation rate of I₃⁻) about 2-3 times higher than pure CeO₂, while nanosize anatase type TiO₂ materials had no catalytic activity under visible light. The catalytic activity was almost proportional to the specific surface area. The formation rate of I₃⁻ was much improved by changing the calcination temperature and calcination period. Highest catalytic activity in this study was obtained for the 50 mol% TiO₂-50 mol% CeO₂ nanopowders calcined at 250 °C for 24 h.     

Thermal reduction and reoxidation of spinel-type Cu1−xZnxAl2O4

The thermochemical reactivity of the spinel-type quaternary metal oxide Cu_1–xZn_xAl₂O₄ has been investigated for different Cu:Zn ratios. In oxygen or inert gas atmospheres no considerable reduction is observed. In molecular hydrogen metal selective reduction of the Cu is found at relatively high temperature. The solid reduction product is made up of sintered, poorly dispersed metallic copper on a Zn-Al-O metal oxide support, a potential catalyst for the methanol synthesis. Owing to the measured high reduction temperature leading to the mentioned sintering of the metallic copper, the activity of this system cannot be high.Financial support by the Swiss National Science Foundation under project Nr. 2027933.89 is gratefully acknowledged.     

Effect of the support calcination temperature on selective hydrodesulfurization of TiO2 nanotubes supported CoMo catalysts

TiO₂ nanotubes (TiO₂-NTs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Co and Mo active components were supported on a series of the as-prepared TiO₂-NTs samples which were calcined at different temperatures. The effects of support calcination temperature of CoMo/TiO₂-NTs catalysts on their catalytic performance were investigated for selective hydrodesulfurization (HDS). The samples were characterized by means of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N₂ adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and H₂ temperature-programmed reduction (H₂-TPR). The experimental results revealed that TiO₂-NTs support calcined under 500 °C can maintain the nanotubular structure with higher surface area and pore volume. Meanwhile, the obtained supported CoMo/TiO₂-NTs catalysts exhibited weak metal-support interaction, more octahedral Mo⁶⁺ species and high catalytic performance in selective HDS.