Phase Progression of γ-Al2O3 Nanoparticles Synthesized in a Solvent-Deficient Environment

Preparation of Near-Spherical α-Al2O3 Particles by Enhanced Precipitation of Gibbsite from Sodium Aluminate Solution Using Highly Dispersed Al2O3 as Seeds

The near-spherical α-Al2O3 particles (∼200 nm) were prepared for the first time through the precipitation of gibbsite from a supersaturated sodium aluminate solution, with the addition of an acidic solution containing highly dispersed nanosized Al2O3 seeds. The near-spherical α-Al2O3 were achieved by employing seeds at 1100 °C, with the initial nucleation temperature being only 900 °C, due to the highly homogeneous dispersion of the seeds into gibbsite formation by in situ growth that can effectively enhance the role of the seeds in the phase transition. Moreover, the precipitation rate of sodium aluminate solution was significantly accelerated by 17-fold. This acceleration was due to the slightly acidic solution breaking the stability of sodium aluminate solution through a neutralization reaction on the seed surface, leading to the rapid formation of gibbsite nuclei on the seed surface. Our findings provide a feasible approach for the fabrication of well-dispersed α-Al2O3 particles and make the industrial production of well-dispersed α-Al2O3 from sodium aluminate solution a commercial reality.

Controlling the Phase Transformation of Alumina for Enhanced Stability and Catalytic Properties

Current transition alumina catalysts require the presence of significant amounts of toxic, environmentally deleterious dopants for their stabilization. Herein, we report a simple and novel strategy to engineer transition aluminas to withstand aging temperatures up to 1200 °C without inducing the transformation to low-surface-area α-Al2O3 and without requiring dopants. By judiciously optimizing the abundance of dominant facets and the interparticle distance, we can control the temperature of the phase transformation from θ-Al2O3 to α-Al2O3 and the specific surface sites on the latter. These specific surface sites provide favorable interactions with supported metal catalysts, leading to improved metal dispersion and greatly enhanced catalytic activity for hydrocarbon oxidation. The results presented herein not only provide molecular-level insights into the critical factors causing deactivation and phase transformation of aluminas but also pave the way for the development of catalysts with improved activity for catalytic hydrocarbon oxidation.

Cascade Performance of Nitroarenes with Alcohols Boosted by a Hollow Flying Saucer-Shaped Ni-Al2O3 Catalyst via a MOF-Templated Strategy Induced by the Kirkendall Effect

Catalysts with an open hollow structure can enhance the mass transfer capability of the catalyst during the reaction process, thereby further improving the catalytic performance. In this work, uniform and monodisperse flying-squircher-shaped Al-MOFs were synthesized via a solvothermal method. Furthermore, a hollow structure Al2O3-supported metallic Ni catalyst (termed Ni-Al2O3-HFA) was synthesized via the Kirkendall effect for the hydrogenation-alkylation cascade reaction by employing as-synthesized Al-MOFs as a carrier for impregnation of Ni(NO3)2·6H2O through further calcination and reduction. Various characterizations (e.g., XRD, HADDF-STEM, H2-TPR) were conducted to reveal the superior performance of the developed Ni-Al2O3-HFA catalyst compared to Ni/Al2O3-IWI (Al2O3 obtained from calcination of Al-MOFs) in cascade reaction between nitroarenes and alcohols. We hope to use the MOF template method via the Kirkendall effect to prepare hollow structure nanocatalysts, which can provide a guideline for the preparation of other hollow materials.

Electrodeposited PEDOT:PSS-Al2O3 Improves the Steady-State Efficiency of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al₂O₃ between perovskite and the hole transporting material (HTM) PEDOT:PSS has previously been shown to improve the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. However, the costs associated with this technique make it unaffordable. In this work, the deposition of an organic-inorganic PEDOT:PSS-Cl-Al₂O₃ bilayer is performed by a simple electrochemical technique with a final annealing step, and the performance of this material as HTM in inverted perovskite solar cells is studied. It was found that this material (PEDOT:PSS-Al₂O₃) improves the solar cell performance by the same mechanisms as Al₂O₃ obtained by ALD: formation of an additional energy barrier, perovskite passivation, and increase in the open-circuit voltage (V_oc) due to suppressed recombination. As a result, the incorporation of the electrochemical Al₂O₃ increased the cell efficiency from 12.1% to 14.3%. Remarkably, this material led to higher steady-state power conversion efficiency, improving a recurring problem in solar cells.

High-Field One-Dimensional and Two-Dimensional 27Al Magic-Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of θ-, δ-, and γ-Al2O3 Dominated Aluminum Oxides: Toward Understanding the Al Sites in γ-Al2O3

Herein, a detailed analysis was carried out using high-field (19.9 T) ²⁷Al magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) on three specially prepared aluminum oxide samples where the γ-, δ-, and θ-Al₂O₃ phases are dominantly expressed through careful control of the synthesis conditions. Specifically, two-dimensional (2D) multiquantum (MQ) MAS ²⁷Al was used to obtain high spectral resolution, which provided a guide for analyzing quantitative 1D ²⁷Al NMR spectra. Six aluminum sites were resolved in the 2D MQ MAS NMR spectra, and seven aluminum sites were required to fit the 1D spectra. A set of octahedral and tetrahedral peaks with well-defined quadrupolar line shapes was observed in the θ-phase dominant sample and was unambiguously assigned to the θ-Al₂O₃ phase. The distinct line shapes related to the θ-Al₂O₃ phase provided an opportunity for effectively deconvoluting the more complex spectrum obtained from the δ-Al₂O₃ dominant sample, allowing the peaks/quadrupolar parameters related to the δ-Al₂O₃ phase to be extracted. The results show that the δ-Al₂O₃ phase contains three distinct Al_O sites and three distinct Al_T sites. This detailed Al site structural information offers a powerful way of analyzing the most complex γ-Al₂O₃ spectrum. It is found that the γ-Al₂O₃ phase consists of Al sites with local structures similar to those found in the δ-Al₂O₃ and θ-Al₂O₃ phases albeit with less ordering. Spin-lattice relaxation time measurement further confirms the disordering of the lattice. Collectively, this study uniquely assigns ²⁷Al features in transition aluminas, offering a simplified method to quantify complex mixtures of aluminum sites in transition alumina samples.

Porosity and Structure of Hierarchically Porous Ni/Al2O3 Catalysts for CO2 Methanation

CO2 methanation is often performed on Ni/Al2O3 catalysts, which can suffer from mass transport limitations and, therefore, decreased efficiency. Here we show the application of a hierarchically porous Ni/Al2O3 catalyst for methanation of CO2. The material has a well-defined and connected meso- and macropore structure with a total porosity of 78%. The pore structure was thoroughly studied with conventional methods, i.e., N2 sorption, Hg porosimetry, and He pycnometry, and advanced imaging techniques, i.e., electron tomography and ptychographic X-ray computed tomography. Tomography can quantify the pore system in a manner that is not possible using conventional porosimetry. Macrokinetic simulations were performed based on the measures obtained by porosity analysis. These show the potential benefit of enhanced mass-transfer properties of the hierarchical pore system compared to a pure mesoporous catalyst at industrially relevant conditions. Besides the investigation of the pore system, the catalyst was studied by Rietveld refinement, diffuse reflectance ultraviolet-visible (DRUV/vis) spectroscopy, and H2-temperature programmed reduction (TPR), showing a high reduction temperature required for activation due to structural incorporation of Ni into the transition alumina. The reduced hierarchically porous Ni/Al2O3 catalyst is highly active in CO2 methanation, showing comparable conversion and selectivity for CH4 to an industrial reference catalyst.

Physicochemical structure of a polyacrylic acid stabilized nanoparticle alum (nanoalum) adjuvant governs TH1 differentiation of CD4+ T cells

The growing shift to subunit antigen vaccines underscores the need for adjuvants that can enhance the magnitude and quality of immune response. Aluminum salts or alums are the first adjuvants with a long history of clinical use. Alum predominantly induces T helper 2 (TH2) type immunity in animal models, characterized by antibody production with little to no induction of antigen-specific T cells. The lack of cell-mediated or T helper 1 (TH1) immunity makes alum adjuvants ineffective in mounting durable responses against diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. Here we show that the clinically approved adjuvant, Alhydrogel, reformulated as a stable nanoparticle (nanoalum) with the anionic polymer polyacrylic acid (PAA) induces structure-dependent TH1 response against the recombinant tuberculosis antigen ID93. We found that PAA adsorption to Alhydrogel was a key parameter affecting nanoalum adjuvanticity. Adsorption depended on various factors, most notably formulation pH, and directly correlated with immunological response in mice, enhancing known hallmarks of a murine TH1 type response: induction of antigen-specific IFN-γ secreting CD4+ T cells and IgG2c subclass of antibodies. Our results demonstrate a correlation between a measurable nanoalum property and immunological response, providing a structural basis to derive a beneficial immunological outcome from a clinically approved adjuvant.

Dehydrogenation of 2-[(n-Methylcyclohexyl)Methyl]Piperidine over Mesoporous Pd-Al2O3 Catalysts Prepared by Solvent Deficient Precipitation: Influence of Calcination Conditions

A pair of 2-[(n-methylcyclohexyl)methyl]piperidine (H12-MBP) and its full dehydrogenation product (H0-MBP) has recently been considered as a potential liquid organic hydrogen carrier with 6.15 wt% H2 storage capacity. In the discovery of an active and stable catalyst for H2 discharge from H12-MBP at lower temperatures, a mesoporous Pd-Al2O3 catalyst (MPdA) was synthesized by a one-pot solvent deficient precipitation (SDP). In the present work, the sensitivity and effectiveness of the SDP method are examined by varying the calcination temperature and time in the preparation of the MPdA catalyst. The characterization revealed that the final properties of the MPdA catalyst greatly rely on both the calcination temperature and time. The MPdA catalyst showed better dehydrogenation activity for calcination at 600 °C than at other temperatures, because of Pd particles of smaller size with higher dispersion. Although the MPdA catalysts calcined at 600 °C for different periods of time have similar size and dispersion of Pd particles, the dehydrogenation efficiency was superior as the calcination time became shorter (e.g., 1 h), which originated from the better arrangement of Pd particles over a higher surface area. These MPdA catalysts, irrespective of the calcination time, displayed a remarkable stability in the dehydrogenation of H12-MBP owing to the protection of Pd particles by the Al2O3 layer.

A novel fluoride-doped aluminium oxide catalyst with tunable Brønsted and Lewis acidity

The Graphical Abstract image shows the influence of fluoride doping and temperature on the catalytic activity.

On the selection of the best polymorph of Al2O3 carriers for supported cobalt nano-spinel catalysts for N2O abatement: an interplay between preferable surface spreading and damaging active phase–support interaction

Selection of a polymorph of Al₂O₃ carriers for the Co₃O₄|Al₂O₃ catalyst for deN₂O reactions.

Detection and characterization of nanoparticles in suspension at low concentrations using the X-ray total scattering pair distribution function technique

Difference atomic pair distribution function methods have been applied to detect and characterize nanoparticles suspended in a solvent at very dilute concentrations. We specifically consider nanoparticles of a pharmaceutical compound in aqueous solution using X-ray PDF methods, a challenging case due to the low atomic number of the nanoparticle species. The nanoparticles were unambiguously detected at the level of 0.25 wt%. Even at these low concentrations the signals were highly reproducible, allowing for reliable detection and quantitative analysis of the nanoparticle structure.