Development of a thermally stable Pt catalyst by redispersion between CeO2 and Al2O3

Understanding the Dynamic Evolution of Active Sites among Single Atoms, Clusters, and Nanoparticles

Catalysis remains a cornerstone of chemical research, with the active sites of catalysts being crucial for their functionality. Identifying active sites, particularly during the reaction process, is crucial for elucidating the relationship between a catalyst's structure and its catalytic property. However, the dynamic evolution of active sites within heterogeneous metal catalysts presents a substantial challenge for accurately pinpointing the real active sites. The advent of in situ and operando characterization techniques has illuminated the path toward understanding the dynamic changes of active sites, offering robust scientific evidence to support the rational design of catalysts. There is a pressing need for a comprehensive review that systematically explores the dynamic evolution among single atoms, clusters, and nanoparticles as active sites during the reaction process, utilizing in situ and operando characterization techniques. This review aims to delineate the effects of various reaction factors on dynamic evolution of active sites among single atoms, clusters, and nanoparticles. Moreover, several in situ and operando techniques are elaborated with emphases on tracking the dynamic evolution of active sites, linking them to catalytic properties. Finally, it discusses challenges and future perspectives in identifying active sites during the reaction process and advancing in situ and operando characterization techniques.

Decelerating catalyst aging of natural gas engines using organic Rankine cycle under road conditions

High exhaust temperature is an intrinsic nature of natural gas engines which underlies power de-rating and thermal aging of after-treatment system; therefore, this study integrates an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system between engine and it's three-way catalyst (TWC) to address these challenges. ORC facilitates power output enhancement through exhaust energy recovery and alleviates thermal aging by reducing exhaust temperature. To estimate the effectiveness of this hypothesized system, a simulation-based investigation is performed. First, simulation models, including engine, TWC, and vehicle dynamic models, are built and validated by experimental data. According to the temperature characteristics of different TWCs, three scenarios, representing old, current, and prospective TWC technology, are formulated to estimate the ORC performance under Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle. Results show that ORC system can substantially alleviate the thermal damage caused by high exhaust temperature and extend TWC lifespan. It is estimated that over 98.5 % of thermal damage can be decreased by proper ORC setting, and the average TWC lifespan extension can be at least 55.4, making a reduced noble metal usage and cost of TWC. Meanwhile, with the decrease of the working temperature of TWC, ORC can recover exhaust energy under more road conditions, further improving the net power and shortening the payback period of extra ORC hardware costs. A reduction in the working temperature of TWC from 770.5 K to 618 K yields a 109 % enhancement in maximum power, coupled with a 62.30 % reduction in the payback period. These findings fully reflect the advantage of ORC-TWC coupling and indicate that ORC is supposed to be used more for the TWC with a low working temperature to maximize economic effectiveness. This study provides a novel pathway for thermal aging alleviation of TWC and a valuable reference for prospective studies on matching ORC with TWC under road conditions.

Construction of nanorod structure confined Pt@CeO2 catalyst by in-situ encapsulation strategy for low temperature catalytic oxidation of toluene

In this work, the Pt@CeO2 catalyst with the nanorod structure (Pt@CeO2-R) and the bunch structure (Pt@CeO2-B) were synthesized through in situ encapsulation strategy of Pt species in Ce-MOFs, respectively. It is discovered that the Pt@CeO2-R catalyst owned the best catalytic performance for toluene catalytic combustion, and this situation was mainly caused by the confinement of Pt nanoparticles in Ce-MOFs, which was related to the chemical state of Pt species, redox ability, and the amount of active oxygen species. Among them, the Pt@CeO2-R catalyst owns more Ce3+ species, rich Pt4+ species, and abundant active oxygen species due to the existence of confined structure, which were conducive to promote catalytic oxidation of toluene. In addition, the Pt@CeO2-R catalyst also exhibited more redox ability, which may speed up the catalytic reaction rates. On the contrary, the Pt/CeO2-R catalyst was synthesized through a simple impregnation method, and exhibited the poor activity for toluene catalytic combustion due to poor Pt4+ species and active oxygen species. Therefore, this work provides a feasible experimental basis for the study of different morphologies and encapsulated metal particles.

Hydrogenation of pentenal over supported Pt nanoparticles: influence of Lewis-acid sites in the conversion pathway

The superb TOF and high selectivity of Pt/CeAl are associated with the surface properties (e.g. medium Lewis acidic site). The unsaturated Ce4+/Al3+ cations pairs act as the acid sites and electron acceptors to polarize the CO bonds.