Homogeneously dispersed ceria nanocatalyst stabilized with ordered mesoporous alumina

Salt-assisted surface charge driven synthesis of large pores alumina as carbon tolerance support for propane dehydrogenation

Porous alumina has been widely used as catalytic support for industrial processes. Under carbon emission constraints, developing a low-carbon porous aluminum oxide synthesis method is a long-standing challenge for low-carbon technology. Herein, we report a method involving the only use of elements of the aluminum-containing reactants (e.g. sodium aluminate and aluminum chloride), sodium chloride was introduced as the coagulation electrolyte to adjust the precipitation process. Noticeably, the adjustment of the dosages of NaCl would allow us to tailor the textural properties and surface acidity with a volcanic-type change of the assembled alumina coiled plates. As a result, porous alumina with a specific surface area of 412 m²/g, large pore volume of 1.96 cm³/g, and concentrated pore size distribution at 30 nm was obtained. The function of salt on boehmite colloidal nanoparticles was proven by colloid model calculation, dynamic light scattering, and scanning/transmission electron microscopy. Afterward, the synthesized alumina was loaded with PtSn to prepare catalysts for the propane dehydrogenation reaction. The obtained catalysts were active but showed different deactivation behavior that was related to the coke resistance capability of the support. We figure out the correlation between pore structure and the activity of the PtSn catalysts associated with the maximum conversion of 53 % and minimum deactivation constant occurring at the pore diameter around 30 nm of the porous alumina. This work offers new insight into the synthesis of porous alumina.

Towards Highly Loaded and Finely Dispersed CuO Catalysts via ADP: Effect of the Alumina Support

To meet current economic demands enforcing the replacement of platinum-group metals, extensively used in three-way-catalytic converters (TWC), research is driven towards low-cost and widely available base metals. However, to cope with their lower activity, high metal loadings must be coupled with increased dispersion. Herein, a series of CuO/Al2O3 samples is produced and the effect of different alumina supports’ properties on CuO dispersion, speciation and eventually on the TWC performance is studied. The alumina samples are synthesized via different methods, including soft-templating routes and flame spray pyrolysis, and compared with a commercial one, while CuO used as the catalytic active phase is added through ammonia-driven deposition–precipitation. As found, the large surface area and low crystallinity of the aluminas produced by soft-templating routes favor strong metal–support interaction, generating highly dispersed and strongly bonded CuO species at low loading and copper-aluminate phases at high loading. Notably, the use of amorphous mesoporous alumina completely prevents the formation of crystalline CuO even at 15 wt% Cu. Such high metal loading and dispersion capacity without the application of elevated calcination temperatures is one of the best reported for nonreducible supports. Catalytic evaluation of this material reveals a pronounced enhancement of oxidation activity with metal loading increase.

Metal-incorporated mesoporous oxides: Synthesis and applications

Mesoporous oxides are outstanding metal nanoparticle catalyst supports owing to their well-defined porous structures. Such mesoporous architectures not only prevent the aggregation of metal nanoparticles but also enhance their catalytic performance. Metal/metal oxide heterojunctions exhibit unique chemical and physical properties because of the surface reconstruction around the junction and electron transfer/interaction across the interface. This article reviews the methods used for synthesizing metal-supported hybrid nanostructures and their applications as catalysts for environmental remediation and sensors for detecting hazardous materials.

Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous Zr-Al Composite Oxides with Excellent Structural and Textural Properties and Extremely High Stability

Ordered mesoporous Zr-Al composite oxide materials (denoted as OMZA-x) with different Zr contents have been synthesized by a solvent evaporation-inducing self-assembly procedure associated with a thermal treatment at 100 °C. A cooperative co-assembly process of amphiphilic triblock copolymer F127 molecules and inorganic hydroxyl species originated from the hydrolysis of Zr and Al precursors was proposed to explain the synthesis of OMZA-x. Compared to ordered mesoporous alumina prepared without introducing Zr species, the resultant OMZA-x exhibited a much more ordered mesostructure combined with a distinct increase in the pore volume and specific surface area. The highly homogenous doping of Zr into the mesopore walls together with the formation of Zr-O-Al bonds can effectively enhance the thermal and hydrothermal stability of OMZA-x. For instance, the ordered mesostructure and excellent textural properties of OMZA-6 prepared with the optimum atomic ratio of Al to Zr of 6 could be well maintained even after a high-temperature treatment at 1000 °C for 1 h or a hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C for 6 h.

Unexpected redox behaviour of large surface alumina containing highly dispersed ceria nanoclusters

Cerium-containing oxide materials have several very interesting applications due to their capacity to store and release oxygen under oxidizing and reducing conditions respectively. In the case of pure ceria this property is highly size dependent inasmuch as the phenomenon is limited to the surface and subsurface oxygen atoms. As a consequence, the design of nanocrystals of ceria has been attracting much attention. In this paper, the evaporation-induced self-assembly method was used to prepare a series of mixed oxide materials composed of nanoclusters of ceria very well dispersed over large surface mesoporous alumina. We observed a total and reversible reduction of Ce4+ into Ce3+ at 400 °C for the materials with a Ce loading between 20 and 35 wt%. A combination of analyses including in situ X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction, oxygen storage capacity, isotopic exchange, 27-Al and 17-O solid state NMR, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ce L3-edge was employed to investigate this unexpected redox behavior. The results reveal that the strong structural disorder observed in both CeO2 and Al2O3 nanoclusters favors the formation of non-crystallized CeAlO3 pseudo phase at the interface between the two oxides.

Self-Assembly of Perovskite Crystals Anchored Al2 O3 -La2 O3 Nanofibrous Membranes with Robust Flexibility and Luminescence

Inorganic luminescent materials as one of the important high-performance materials are widely used for industry and scientific research, mainly owing to their outstanding luminescence properties. However, inorganic luminescent materials are typically brittle and inelastic, which greatly limit their use in practical applications, particularly in flexible optoelectronic devices. In this work, it is shown that "plum-pudding" like CsPbBr₃ /Cs₄ PbBr₆ perovskite crystals anchor onto Al₂ O₃ -La₂ O₃ (CCAL) nanofibrous membranes, which are synthesized via a facile electrospinning and subsequent supersaturated recrystallization process. The as-synthesized CCAL membranes exhibit outstanding mechanical flexibility and luminescence properties. Meanwhile, the crystal structure and luminous performance of the CCAL membranes are regulated by different molar ratios of CsBr/PbBr₂ . The photoluminescence reaches a maximum value for the CCAL membranes produced with a CsBr/PbBr₂ ratio of 1, and shows a narrow emission line-width of 18 nm. Furthermore, the potential applications of the CCAL nanofibrous membranes in green light devices through a remote nanofibrous membranes packaging approach are demonstrated. A pure green emission is achieved with the Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage color coordinates of (0.28, 0.65). This facile strategy would open a new avenue to flexible inorganic luminescent materials for the lighting and backlight display industries.

A vesicle-aggregation-assembly approach to highly ordered mesoporous γ-alumina microspheres with shifted double-diamond networks

Alumina materials have widely been used in industrial fields, such as catalysis and adsorption. However, due to the fast sol-gel process and complicated crystalline-phase transformation, the synthesis of alumina materials with both highly ordered mesostructures and crystallized frameworks remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a novel vesicle-aggregation-assembly strategy to prepare highly ordered mesoporous γ-alumina microspheres with unique shifted double-diamond networks for the first time, by using diblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEO-b-PMMA) as a template and aluminum isopropoxide as a precursor in a tetrahydrofuran (THF)/hydrochloric acid binary solvent. During the gradual evaporation of THF and H₂O, the as-made Al³⁺-based gel/PEO-b-PMMA composites can be obtained through a co-assembly process based on the hydrogen bonding interaction between hydroxyl groups of alumina oligomers and PEO segments of the diblock copolymers. The formed composites exhibit a spherical morphology with a wide size distribution (diameter size 1-12 μm). Furthermore, these composite microspheres possess an inverse bicontinuous cubic mesostructure (double diamond, Pn3[combining macron]m) with Al³⁺-based gel buried in the PEO-b-PMMA matrix in the form of two intertwined but disconnected networks. After a simple calcination at 900 °C in air, the structure of the resultant mesoporous alumina changes to a relatively low symmetry (shifted double diamond, Fd3[combining macron]m), ascribed to the shifting of the two alumina networks due to loss of the templates. Meanwhile, the unit cell size of the alumina mesostructure decreases from ∼131 to ∼95 nm. The obtained ordered mesoporous alumina products retain the spherical morphology and possess ultra-large mesopores (∼72.8 nm), columnar frameworks composed of γ-alumina nanocrystalline particles (crystal size of ∼15 nm) and high thermal stability (up to 900 °C). As a support of Au nanoparticles, the formed Au/mesoporous γ-alumina composite catalysts have been used in the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol with a high kinetic constant k of 0.0888 min^-1, implying promising potential as a catalyst support.

Highly sensitive determination of lead(ii) and cadmium(ii) by a large surface area mesoporous alumina modified carbon paste electrode

Nanosized mesoporous γ-alumina (M-γ-Al₂O₃) was first prepared and then modified into a carbon paste to fabricate a novel modified carbon paste electrode. The prepared alumina has pores with an amorphous wall and large surface area. The electrochemical behavior of the modified carbon paste electrode was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods. The modified carbon paste electrode was employed to determine Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ simultaneously by a differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method. Amperometric determination was carried out in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ NaAc–HAc buffer solution (pH 6.0) after enriching for 360 s at −1.0 V. The oxidation peak currents of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ were proportional to their concentration in the range of 0.001–10 μmol L⁻¹ and 0.01–10 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. The detection limits of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ were 0.20 nmol L⁻¹ and 2.0 nmol L⁻¹ (S/N = 3), respectively. The modified carbon paste electrode shows good stability, repeatability and sensitivity. The proposed method was applied to the determination of Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ in water samples with satisfactory results.

Nanosized mesoporous γ-alumina (M-γ-Al₂O₃) was first prepared and then modified into a carbon paste to fabricate a novel modified carbon paste electrode.

Al2O3-CeO2 Oxides: Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation as Catalytic Supports in Benzene Combustion. Surface Ceria Effects

Al2O3-CeO2 sol-gel oxides were obtained at ceria loadings of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 wt.%, calcined at 700 °C and characterized by N2 physisorption, XRD, TEM, 27Al MAS-NMR, and TPR. All samples present high amounts of surface ceria species and bulk ceria has significant presence from 20 wt.% of ceria. The sample with 50 wt.% presents both the reduction of bulk and interfacial ceria species and X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to cerianite phase. Surface ceria dispersion degree (surface ceria/total reduced ceria) was determined to be 100 % for samples with 2 and 5 wt.% CeO2, with a slight decrease to ca. 90 % and 75 % for samples with 10 and 20 wt.% CeO2 respectively, and a lower value of 41 % for the sample with 50 wt.% CeO2. It was found the amount of surface ceria has a good correlation with the amount of AlV sites, indicating that incorporated Ce ions distorts the alumina matrix and restricts the amount of surface ceria. Platinum supported on these materials showed that the catalytic activity in benzene combustion for oxygen-depleted environments increased as the surface ceria concentration increased.

Highly stable mesoporous NiO–Y2O3–Al2O3 catalysts for CO2 reforming of methane: effect of Ni embedding and Y2O3 promotion

A series of mesoporous NiO–Y₂O₃–Al₂O₃ composite oxides with different yttrium contents were synthesized by either a one-pot evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method or impregnation for carbon dioxide reforming of methane (CRM).

Mesoporous xEr2O3·CoTiO3 composite oxide catalysts for low temperature dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene using CO2 as a soft oxidant

Mesoporous xEr₂O₃·CoTiO₃ composites tested as a new type of catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene.

Engineering the defect state and reducibility of ceria based nanoparticles for improved anti-oxidation performance

Due to their excellent anti-oxidation performance, CeO2 nanoparticles receive wide attention in pharmacological application. Deep understanding of the anti-oxidation mechanism of CeO2 nanoparticles is extremely important to develop potent CeO2 nanomaterials for anti-oxidation application. Here, we report a detailed study on the anti-oxidation process of CeO2 nanoparticles. The valence state and coordination structure of Ce are characterized before and after the addition of H2O2 to understand the anti-oxidation mechanism of CeO2 nanoparticles. Adsorbed peroxide species are detected during the anti-oxidation process, which are responsible for the red-shifted UV-vis absorption spectra of CeO2 nanoparticles. Furthermore, the coordination number of Ce in the first coordination shell slightly increased after the addition of H2O2. On the basis of these experimental results, the reactivity of coordination sites for peroxide species is considered to play a key role in the anti-oxidation performance of CeO2 nanoparticles. Furthermore, we present a robust method to engineer the anti-oxidation performance of CeO2 nanoparticles through the modification of the defect state and reducibility by doping with Gd(3+). Improved anti-oxidation performance is also observed in cell culture, where the biocompatible CeO2-based nanoparticles can protect INS-1 cells from oxidative stress induced by H2O2, suggesting the potential application of CeO2 nanoparticles in the treatment of diabetes.

Structural and chemical changes of Zn-doped CeO2 nanocrystals upon annealing at ultra-high temperatures

Seemingly monophasic Zn-doped ceria nanocrystals contain substantial amounts of X-ray amorphous ZnO not detectable by standard XRD. This ZnO can be incorporated upon annealing at temperatures up to 1300 °C.

Heterostructured nanocomposite tin phthalocyanine@mesoporous ceria (SnPc@CeO2) for photoreduction of CO2 in visible light

Heterostructured tin phthalocyanine supported to mesoporous ceria was synthesized and used a photocatalyst for CO₂ reduction under visible light.

Photo-assisted oxidation of thiols to disulfides using cobalt “Nanorust” under visible light

A pyrolyzed cobalt based heterogeneous catalyst was found to be a more effective catalyst than the heterogenized CoPc@CeO₂ for oxidation of thiols to disulfides under visible light.

Facile synthesis of highly ordered mesoporous cobalt–alumina catalysts and their application in liquid phase selective oxidation of styrene

We illustrate the preparation of highly ordered mesoporous cobalt–alumina catalysts with highly homogeneously dispersed Co(ii) species via an evaporation-induced triconstituent cooperative co-assembly method.

Controlling the synthesis and application of nanocrystalline spherical and ordered mesoporous alumina with high thermal stability

In an acetic acid assisted sol–gel system, nanosize spherical mesoporous alumina (Figure Q) and ordered mesoporous alumina (Figure S) were synthesized using different mole ratios of n(acetic acid)/n(Al) and synthesis temperatures.

Bottom-up synthesis of cerium–citric acid coordination polymers hollow microspheres with tunable shell thickness and their corresponding porous CeO2 hollow spheres for Pt-based electrocatalysts

Cerium–citric acid CPs hollow spheres and the electrocatalytic properties of Pt/CeO₂ hollow spheres.

Facile electrochemical synthesis of CeO2 hierarchical nanorods and nanowires with excellent photocatalytic activities

A simple, cost-effective and controllable electrochemical method has been developed to synthesize free-standing CeO₂ hierarchical nanorods and nanowires.

Ordered mesoporous materials based on interfacial assembly and engineering

Ordered mesoporous materials have inspired prominent research interest due to their unique properties and functionalities and potential applications in adsorption, separation, catalysis, sensors, drug delivery, energy conversion and storage, and so on. Thanks to continuous efforts over the past two decades, great achievements have been made in the synthesis and structural characterization of mesoporous materials. In this review, we summarize recent progresses in preparing ordered mesoporous materials from the viewpoint of interfacial assembly and engineering. Five interfacial assembly and synthesis are comprehensively highlighted, including liquid-solid interfacial assembly, gas-liquid interfacial assembly, liquid-liquid interfacial assembly, gas-solid interfacial synthesis, and solid-solid interfacial synthesis, basics about their synthesis pathways, princples and interface engineering strategies.

Portraits of colloidal hybrid nanostructures: controlled synthesis and potential applications

Inorganic hybrid nanostructures containing two or more nanocomponents have been emerging in many areas of materials science in recent years. The particle-particle interactions in a hybrid particle system could significantly improve existing local electronic structure and induce tunable physiochemical responses. The current work reviews the diverse inorganic hybrid nanostructures formed by adhesion of the different single components via seed-mediated method. The hybrid nanomaterials have great potentials for real applications in many other fields. The nanohybrids have been used as efficient heterocatalysts for carbon monoxide conversion and photodegradation of organic contaminants. The enhanced catalytic activity of these hybrid nanocatalysts could be attributed the formation of oxygen vacancies and electron transfer across the structural junction in a hybrid system as a result of the interfacial particle-particle interactions. The synergistic combination of up-converting and semiconducting properties in an up-converting semiconducting hybrid particle results in appearance of sub-band-gap photoconductivity. This behavior has a great significance for the design of photovoltaic devices for effective solar energy conversion. The functionalization and subsequent bioconjugation of the hybrid nanostructures to afford the multifunctional nanomedical platforms for simultaneous diagnosis and therapy are reviewed. The conjugated multifunctional hybrid nanostructures exhibit high biocompatibility and highly selective binding with functional groups-fabricated alive organs through delivering them to the tumor sites. The clever combinations of multifunctional features and antibody conjugation within these vehicles make them to generally offer new opportunities for clinical diagnostics and therapeutics.