Kinetics of Free Radical Generation in the Catalytic Oxidation of Methanol

The formation of free radicals over the surface of platinum-containing catalysts in the methanol oxidation reaction depending on the temperature, the composition of the reaction mixture, and the procedure used for introducing platinum was studied by the matrix isolation method technique. The nature and transformations of surface intermediates depending on the temperature and the presence of oxygen in the gas phase were studied by Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The main surface intermediate was the methoxy group. The following three types of these groups were stabilized in alumina-based catalysts: (I) CH₃O–Al_oct (_s(–) = 2806 cm^–1), (II) CH₃O–Al_tetr (_s(–) = 2825 cm^–1), and (III) CH₃O < (Al)₂ (_S(–) = 2845 cm^–1, _s(–) = 1460 cm^–1, _s(–) = 1440 cm^–1, r _|| (₃) = 1185 cm^–1, and (–) = 1095 cm^–1). At the same time, isolated methoxy groups (_as(–) = 2997 cm^–1, _as(–) = 2959 cm^–1, _s(–) = 2857 cm^–1, and (₃) = 1450 cm^–1) and hydrogen-bonded groups ((–) = 3400–3550 cm^–1), which resulted from chemisorption at siloxane bridges, were stabilized in silica gel–based catalysts. It was found that CH₃O and CH₃OO radicals were formed only over the surfaces of pure supports (SiO₂ and Al₂O₃) and their mechanical mixtures with platinum. The total concentration of radicals was described by an extremal function of the composition of reactants, whereas the relative concentration depends on the nature of the support. This is conceivably due to the effect of coordinatively unsaturated cations of the support, which are formed by dehydroxylation in the course of catalyst pretreatment. An increase in the rate of formation of gas-phase radicals on mixed catalysts was explained by special properties of the platinum/support interface region, at which surface intermediates were formed in superequilibrium concentrations under reaction conditions.     

IR spectroscopic studies of CO interaction with surface zirconium hydrides

IR spectroscopic studies of CO interaction with surface zirconium hydrides have revealed that it proceeds through a step of CO adsorption on these hydrides at 163–273 K with the subsequent insertion of CO across the Zr-H bonds at T>293 K and the formation of surface formyl compounds.

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CO . , CO 163–273 CO Zr-H 293 .

     

Nanostructured, Gd-doped ceria promoted by Pt or Pd: investigation of the electronic and surface structures and relations to chemical properties

Nanostructured ceria doped with other rare earth elements is a good oxygen ion conductor, which gives rise to various catalytic applications such as the construction of membranes for syngas production by partial oxidation of methane. This article focuses on the Gd-doped cerium dioxides, which can be modified with Pt or Pd to enhance the reactivity of the lattice oxygen in interaction with methane. The aim of the work is the elucidation of correlations between the structural, electronic, and chemical properties of these nanomaterials. Detailed studies were performed for a series of samples with and without surface modification by noble metals using a complex combination of physicochemical methods: XRD, TEM, CH(4) TPR, XPS, SIMS, and FTIR spectroscopy of adsorbed CO. XPS and TPR data revealed that surface modification with noble metals enhances the reducibility of the doped ceria support, where the effect is more pronounced for Pd than for Pt. The formation of highly cationic Pd species due to strong metal support interactions provides a possible explanation for this behavior. Furthermore, the results obtained in the present work for the Gd-doped ceria system are compared to those obtained previously for the Pr-doped ceria system.