Comparative Study of Bulk and Supported V−Mo−Te−Nb−O Mixed Metal Oxide Catalysts for Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propylene

The Conundrum of "Pair Sites" in Langmuir-Hinshelwood Reaction Kinetics in Heterogeneous Catalysis

Understanding reaction kinetics is crucial for designing and applying heterogeneous catalytic processes in chemical and energy conversion. Here, we revisit the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model for bimolecular surface reactions, originally formulated for metal catalysts, assuming immobile adsorbates on neighboring pair sites, with the rate varying linearly with the density of surface sites (sites per unit area); r ∝ [*]o 1. Supported metal oxide catalysts, however, offer systematic control over [*]o through variation of the active two-dimensional metal oxide loading in the submonolayer region. Various reactions catalyzed by supported metal oxides are analyzed, such as supported VO x catalysts, including methanol oxidation, oxidative dehydrogenation of propane and ethane, SO2 oxidation to SO3, propene oxidation to acrolein, n-butane oxidation to maleic anhydride, and selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia. The analysis reveals diverse dependencies of reaction rate on [*]o for these surface reactions, with r ∝ [*]o n , where n equals 1 for reactions with a unimolecular rate-determining step and 2 for those with a bimolecular rate-limiting step or exchange of more than 2 electrons. We propose refraining from a priori assumptions about the nature and density of surface sites or adsorbate behavior, advocating instead for data-driven elucidation of kinetics based on the density of surface sites, adsorbate coverage, etc. Additionally, recent studies on catalytic surface mechanisms have shed light on nonadjacent catalytic sites catalyzing surface reactions in contrast to the traditional requirement of adjacent/pair sites. These findings underscore the need for a more nuanced approach in modeling heterogeneous catalysis, especially supported metal oxide catalysts, encouraging reliance on experimental data over idealized assumptions that are often difficult to justify.

Exploring the Effect of V2O5 and Nb2O5 Content on the Structural, Thermal, and Electrical Characteristics of Sodium Phosphate Glasses and Glass-Ceramics

Na-V-P-Nb-based materials have gained substantial recognition as cathode materials in high-rate sodium-ion batteries due to their unique properties and compositions, comprising both alkali and transition metal ions, which allow them to exhibit a mixed ionic-polaronic conduction mechanism. In this study, the impact of introducing two transition metal oxides, V2O5 and Nb2O5, on the thermal, (micro)structural, and electrical properties of the 35Na2O-25V2O5-(40 - x)P2O5 - xNb2O5 system is examined. The starting glass shows the highest values of DC conductivity, σDC, reaching 1.45 × 10-8 Ω-1 cm-1 at 303 K, along with a glass transition temperature, Tg, of 371 °C. The incorporation of Nb2O5 influences both σDC and Tg, resulting in non-linear trends, with the lowest values observed for the glass with x = 20 mol%. Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements and vibrational spectroscopy results suggest that the observed non-monotonic trend in σDC arises from a diminishing contribution of polaronic conductivity due to the decrease in the relative number of V4+ ions and the introduction of Nb2O5, which disrupts the predominantly mixed vanadate-phosphate network within the starting glasses, consequently impeding polaronic transport. The mechanism of electrical transport is investigated using the model-free Summerfield scaling procedure, revealing the presence of mixed ionic-polaronic conductivity in glasses where x < 10 mol%, whereas for x ≥ 10 mol%, the ionic conductivity mechanism becomes prominent. To assess the impact of the V2O5 content on the electrical transport mechanism, a comparative analysis of two analogue series with varying V2O5 content (10 and 25 mol%) is conducted to evaluate the extent of its polaronic contribution.

Site-specific catalytic activities to facilitate solvent-free aerobic oxidation of cyclohexylamine to cyclohexanone oxime over highly efficient Nb-modified SBA-15 catalysts

The development of highly active and selective heterogeneous catalysts for efficient oxidation of cyclohexylamine to cyclohexanone oxime is a challenge associated with the highly sensitive nitrogen center of cyclohexylamine.

V-Containing Mixed Oxide Catalysts for Reduction–Oxidation-Based Reactions with Environmental Applications: A Short Review

V-containing mixed oxide catalytic materials are well known as active for partial oxidation reactions. Oxidation reactions are used in industrial chemistry and for the abatement of pollutants. An analysis of the literature in this field during the past few years shows a clear increase in the use of vanadium-based materials as catalysts for environmental applications. The present contribution makes a brief revision of the main applications of vanadium containing mixed oxides in environmental catalysis, analyzing the properties that present the catalysts with a better behavior that, in most cases, is related with the stabilization of reduced vanadium species (as V4+/V3+) during reaction.

Statistically Guided Synthesis of MoV-Based Mixed-Oxide Catalysts for Ethane Partial Oxidation

The catalytic performance of Mo8V2Nb1-based mixed-oxide catalysts for ethane partial oxidation is highly sensitive to the doping of elements with redox and acid functionality. Specifically, control over product distributions to ethylene and acetic acid can be afforded via the specific pairing of redox elements (Pd, Ni, Ti) and acid elements (K, Cs, Te) and the levels at which these elements are doped. The redox element, acid element, redox/acid ratio, and dopant/host ratio were investigated using a three-level, four-factor factorial screening design to establish relationships between catalyst composition, structure, and product distribution for ethane partial oxidation. Results show that the balance between redox and acid functionality and overall dopant level is important for maximizing the formation of each product while maintaining the structural integrity of the host metal oxide. Overall, ethylene yield was maximized for a Mo8V2Nb1Ni0.0025Te0.5 composition, while acetic acid yield was maximized for a Mo8V2Nb1Ti0.005Te1 catalyst.

Ammoxidation of 2-methylpyrazine to 2-cyanopyrazine over Nb–V oxides: marked effect of the Nb/V ratio on the catalytic performance

Among various Nb–V–O catalysts, the catalyst with a Nb/V ratio of 1 has shown the best activity and selectivity as well as extremely high space–time yields (X-MP ~100%, S-CP ~70% and STY = 440 g_CP kg_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹).

Structural aspects of the M1 and M2 phases in MoVNbTeO propane ammoxidation catalysts

The structures of M1 and M2 in MoVNbTeO propane ammoxidation catalysts have been solved using a combination of TEM, neutron powder diffraction, and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. The unit cell of M1 is Pba2 (No. 32) with a = 21.134(2) Å, b = 26.658(2) Å, c = 4.0146(3) Å and Z = 4. The formula unit is Mo7.8V1.2NbTe0.937O28.9. The unit cell of M2 is Pmm2 (No. 25) with a = 12.6294(6) Å, b = 7.29156(30) Å, c = 4.02010(7) Å and Z = 4. The formula unit is Mo4.31V1.36Te1.81Nb0.33O19.81. Tellurium sites in hexagonal channels of both phases are displaced toward vanadium-occupied framework sites, whereas Te in the heptagonal channel of M1 is near the channel center. The chemical topology resulting from oxidation states and Madelung site potentials presents active moieties for the ammoxidation of propane in M1 and propene in M2. EPR confirmed the presence of V4+ and possibly Mo5+ in M1 and V4+ in M2.

Quantitative Determination of the Speciation of Surface Vanadium Oxides and Their Catalytic Activity

A quantitative method based on UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was developed that allows determination of the fraction of monomeric and polymeric VO(x) species that are present in vanadate materials. This new quantitative method allows determination of the distribution of monomeric and polymeric surface VO(x) species present in dehydrated supported V(2)O(5)/SiO(2), V(2)O(5)/Al(2)O(3), and V(2)O(5)/ZrO(2) catalysts below monolayer surface coverage when V(2)O(5) nanoparticles are not present. Isolated surface VO(x) species are exclusively present at low surface vanadia coverage on all the dehydrated oxide supports. However, polymeric surface VO(x) species are also present on the dehydrated Al(2)O(3) and ZrO(2) supports at intermediate surface coverage and the polymeric chains are the dominant surface vanadia species at monolayer surface coverage. The propane oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) turnover frequency (TOF) values are essentially indistinguishable for the isolated and polymeric surface VO(x) species on the same oxide support, and are also not affected by the Brønsted acidity or reducibility of the surface VO(x) species. The propane ODH TOF, however, varies by more than an order of magnitude with the specific oxide support (ZrO(2) > Al(2)O(3) >> SiO(2)) for both the isolated and polymeric surface VO(x) species. These new findings reveal that the support cation is a potent ligand that directly influences the reactivity of the bridging V-O-support bond, the catalytic active site, by controlling its basic character with the support electronegativity. These new fundamental insights about polymerization extent of surface vanadia species on SiO(2), Al(2)O(3), and ZrO(2) are also applicable to other supported vanadia catalysts (e.g., CeO(2), TiO(2), Nb(2)O(5)) as well as other supported metal oxide (e.g., CrO(3), MoO(3), WO(3)) catalyst systems.

Determination of the Chemical Nature of Active Surface Sites Present on Bulk Mixed Metal Oxide Catalysts

CH3OH temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR) spectroscopy was employed to determine the chemical nature of active surface sites for bulk mixed metal oxide catalysts. The CH3OH-TPSR spectra peak temperature, Tp, for model supported metal oxides and bulk, pure metal oxides was found to be sensitive to the specific surface metal oxide as well as its oxidation state. The catalytic activity of the surface metal oxide sites was found to decrease upon reduction of these sites and the most active surface sites were the fully oxidized surface cations. The surface V5+ sites were found to be more active than the surface Mo6+ sites, which in turn were significantly more active than the surface Nb5+ and Te4+ sites. Furthermore, the reaction products formed also reflected the chemical nature of surface active sites. Surface redox sites are able to liberate oxygen and yield H2CO, while surface acidic sites are not able to liberate oxygen, contain either H+ or oxygen vacancies, and produce CH3OCH3. Surface V5+, Mo6+, and Te4+ sites behave as redox sites, and surface Nb5+ sites are Lewis acid sites. This experimental information was used to determine the chemical nature of the different surface cations in bulk Mo-V-Te-Nb-Ox mixed oxide catalysts (Mo(0.6)V(1.5)Ox, Mo(1.0)V(0.5)Te(0.16)Ox, Mo(1.0)V(0.3)Te(0.16)Nb(0.12)Ox). The bulk Mo(0.6)V(1.5)Ox and Mo(1.0)V(0.5)Te(0.16)Ox mixed oxide catalytic characteristics were dominated by the catalytic properties of the surface V5+ redox sites. The surface enrichment of these bulk mixed oxide by surface V5+ is related to its high mobility, V5+ possesses the lowest Tammann temperature among the different oxide cations, and the lower surface free energy associated with the surface termination of V=O bonds. The quaternary bulk Mo(1.0)V(0.3)Te(0.16)Nb(0.12)Ox mixed oxide possessed both surface redox and acidic sites. The surface redox sites reflect the characteristics of surface V5+ and the surface acidic sites reflect the properties normally associated with supported Mo6+. The major roles of Nb5+ and Te4+ appear to be that of ligand promoters for the more active surface V and Mo sites. These reactivity trends for CH3OH ODH parallel the reactivity trends of propane ODH because of their similar rate-determining step involving cleavage of a C-H bond. This novel CH3OH-TPSR spectroscopic method is a universal method that has also been successfully applied to other bulk mixed metal oxide systems to determine the chemical nature of the active surface sites.