B18-Core EXAFS
E01-JEM ARM 200CF
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Simon R.
Dawson
,
Samuel
Pattisson
,
Grazia
Malta
,
Nicholas F.
Dummer
,
Louise R.
Smith
,
Anna
Lazaridou
,
Christopher S.
Allen
,
Thomas E.
Davies
,
Simon J.
Freakley
,
Simon
Kondrat
,
Christopher J.
Kiely
,
Peter
Johnston
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[23498, 15214, 15151]
Open Access
Abstract: The formation of highly active and stable acetylene hydrochlorination catalysts is of great industrial importance. The successful replacement of the highly toxic mercuric chloride catalyst with gold has led to a flurry of research in this area. One key aspect, which led to the commercialization of the gold catalyst is the use of thiosulphate as a stabilizing ligand. This study investigates the use of a range of sulfur containing compounds as promoters for production of highly active Au/C catalysts. Promotion is observed across a range of metal sulfates, non‐metal sulfates, and sulfuric acid treatments. This observed enhancement can be optimized by careful consideration of either pre‐ or post‐treatments, concentration of dopants used, and modification of washing steps. Pre‐treatment of the carbon support with sulfuric acid (0.76 m) resulted in the most active Au/C in this series with an acetylene conversion of ≈70% at 200 °C.
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Feb 2021
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[19850]
Open Access
Abstract: The chemical and structural nature of potassium compounds involved in catalytic soot oxidation have been studied by a combination of temperature programmed oxidation and operando potassium K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments. These experiments are the first known operando studies using tender X-rays (∼3.6 keV) under high temperature oxidation reaction conditions. X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis of K2CO3/Al2O3 catalysts during heating shows that, at temperatures between 100 and 200 °C, potassium species undergo a structural change from an initial hydrated K2CO3·xH2O and KHCO3 mixture to well-defined K2CO3. As the catalyst is heated from 200 °C to 600 °C, a feature associated with multiple scattering shifts to lower energy, indicating increased K2CO3 dispersion, due to its mobility at high reaction temperature. This shift was noted to be greater in samples containing soot than in control experiments without soot and can be attributed to enhanced mobility of the K2CO3, due to the interaction between soot and potassium species. No potassium species except K2CO3 could be defined during reactions, which excludes a potential reaction mechanism in which carbonate ions are the active soot-oxidising species. Simulations of K-edge absorption near edge structures were performed to rationalise the observed changes seen. Findings showed that cluster size, unit cell distortions and variation in the distribution of potassium crystallographic sites influenced the simulated spectra of K2CO3. While further simulation studies are required for a more complete understanding, the current results support the hypothesis that changes in the local structure on dispersion can influence the observed spectra. Ex situ characterisation was carried out on the fresh and used catalyst, by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which indicated changes to the carbonate species, in line with the X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments.
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Jul 2020
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Grazia
Malta
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
Simon J.
Freakley
,
David J.
Morgan
,
Emma K.
Gibson
,
Peter P.
Wells
,
Matteo
Aramini
,
Diego
Gianolio
,
Paul B. J.
Thompson
,
Peter
Johnston
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[15214]
Open Access
Abstract: The replacement of HgCl2/C with Au/C as a catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination represents a significant reduction in the environmental impact of this industrial process. Under reaction conditions atomically dispersed cationic Au species are the catalytic active site, representing a large-scale application of heterogeneous single-site catalysts. While the metal nuclearity and oxidation state under operating conditions has been investigated in catalysts prepared from aqua regia and thiosulphate, limited studies have focused on the ligand environment surrounding the metal centre. We now report K-edge soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy of the Cl and S ligand species used to stabilise these isolated cationic Au centres in the harsh reaction conditions. We demonstrate the presence of three distinct Cl species in the materials; inorganic Cl−, Au–Cl, and C–Cl and how these species evolve during reaction. Direct evidence of Au–S interactions is confirmed in catalysts prepared using thiosulfate precursors which show high stability towards reduction to inactive metal nanoparticles. This stability was clear during gas switching experiments, where exposure to C2H2 alone did not dramatically alter the Au electronic structure and consequently did not deactivate the thiosulfate catalyst.
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Jun 2020
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B18-Core EXAFS
E01-JEM ARM 200CF
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Xi
Sun
,
Simon R.
Dawson
,
Tanja E.
Parmentier
,
Grazia
Malta
,
Thomas E.
Davies
,
Qian
He
,
Li
Lu
,
David J.
Morgan
,
Nicholas
Carthey
,
Peter
Johnston
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
Simon J.
Freakley
,
Christopher J.
Kiely
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[22766, 20643, 19580]
Abstract: Single-site catalysts can demonstrate high activity and selectivity in many catalytic reactions. The synthesis of these materials by impregnation from strongly oxidizing aqueous solutions or pH-controlled deposition often leads to low metal loadings or a range of metal species. Here, we demonstrate that simple impregnation of the metal precursors onto activated carbon from a low-boiling-point, low-polarity solvent, such as acetone, results in catalysts with an atomic dispersion of cationic metal species. We show the generality of this method by producing single-site Au, Pd, Ru and Pt catalysts supported on carbon in a facile manner. Single-site Au/C catalysts have previously been validated commercially to produce vinyl chloride, and here we show that this facile synthesis method can produce effective catalysts for acetylene hydrochlorination in the absence of the highly oxidizing acidic solvents previously used.
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Apr 2020
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B18-Core EXAFS
I18-Microfocus Spectroscopy
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Christopher
Hardacre
,
Andrew M.
Beale
,
Emma K.
Gibson
,
Josephine B. M.
Goodall
,
Alex
Goguet
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
Grazia
Malta
,
Cristina
Stere
,
Peter P.
Wells
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
,
C. Richard A.
Catlow
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[12986, 10306, 11398, 15214, 12601, 10242, 12064, 12499, 14440]
Abstract: Techniques employing synchrotron radiation (SR) have had a major
and growing impact on catalytic science. They have made key contributions
to our understanding of structural properties of catalytic systems
and of structural changes during the operation of a catalytic process.
They can also improve our understanding of electronic and vibrational
properties, which can contribute to the understanding of mechanisms.
SR techniques are now key components of the experimental tool box of
the catalytic scientist.
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Feb 2020
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Grazia
Malta
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
Simon J.
Freakley
,
Catherine
Davies
,
Simon
Dawson
,
Xi
Liu
,
Li
Lu
,
Krzysztof
Dymkowski
,
Felix
Fernandez-alonso
,
Sanghamitra
Mukhopadhyay
,
Emma Kate
Gibson
,
Peter P.
Wells
,
Stewart F.
Parker
,
Christopher J.
Kiely
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[10306, 11398, 15214]
Abstract: Single-site Au species supported on carbon have been shown to be the active sites for acetylene hydrochlorination. The evolution of these single-site species has been monitored by Au L3 X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS). Alternating between a standard reaction mixture of HCl/C2H2 and the single reactants, has provided insights into the reaction mechanism and catalyst deactivation processes. We demonstrate that oxidative addition of HCl across an Au(I) chloride species requires concerted addition with C2H2, in accordance with both the XAS measurements of Au oxidation state and the reaction kinetics being 1st order with respect to each reactant. The addition of excess C2H2 changes the Au speciation and results in the formation of oligomeric acetylene species which were detected by inelastic neutron scattering. Catalyst deactivation at extended reaction times can be correlated with the formation of metallic Au particles. The presence of this Au(0) species generated during the sequential gas experiments or after prolonged reaction times, results in the analysis of the normalised near edge white line intensity of the Au L3 X-ray absorption spectrum alone becoming an unsuitable guide for identifying the active Au species, affecting the strong correlation between normalized white line height and VCM productivity usually observed in the active catalyst. Thus, a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and detailed modelling of whole XAS spectrum was required to distinguish active Au(I) and Au(III) species from the spectator Au(0) component.
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Jul 2018
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Ewa
Nowicka
,
Christian
Reece
,
Sultan M.
Althahban
,
Khaled M. H.
Mohammed
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
David John
Morgan
,
Qian
He
,
David J.
Willock
,
Stanislaw
Golunski
,
Christopher J.
Kiely
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[8071]
Abstract: A mixed oxide support containing Ce, Zr and Al was synthesized using a physical grinding method and applied in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane using CO2 as the oxidant. The activity of the support was compared with that of fully-formulated catalysts containing palladium. The Pd/CeZrAlOx material exhibited long-term stability and selectivity to propene (during continuous operation for 140 h) which is not normally associated with dehydrogenation catalysts. From temperature-programmed desorption of NH3 and CO2 it was found that the catalyst possessed both acidic and basic sites. In addition, temperature programmed reduction showed that palladium promoted both the reduction and re-oxidation of the support. When the role of CO2 was investigated in the absence of gas-phase oxidant, using a Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) reactor, it was found that CO2 dissociates over the reduced catalyst leading to formation of CO and selective oxygen species. It is proposed that CO2 has the dual role of regenerating selective oxygen species, and shifting the equilibrium for alkane dehydrogenation by consuming H2 through the reverse water-gas-shift reaction. These two mechanistic functions have previously been considered to be mutually exclusive.
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Mar 2018
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[15151]
Abstract: Coupling reactions to form new C-C bonds are extensively used in industrial synthetic processes. Gold has been shown to be an active catalyst for such reactions however, conflicting reports exist as to whether cationic Au or metallic Au is acting as the active species. We prepared a heterogeneous catalyst consisting of atomically dispersed Au-Clx supported on carbon and showed this to be active in the homocoupling of phenylboronic acid to biphenyl. However; characterisation of the catalyst materials, even after just a short exposure time to the reactants, revealed rapid reduction and sintering of the Au species into larger metallic nanoparticles which we propose to be the true active species in this instance. This study suggests that if cationic Au is an active catalyst, it must be stabilised against reduction and agglomeration by either forming complexes which are more stable than common chlorides or by strongly anchoring them firmly onto alternative support materials; as in this case the carbon supported Au-Cl species were easily reduced.
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Dec 2017
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Abstract: A series of copper–zinc acetate and zincian georgeite precursors have been produced by supercritical CO2 antisolvent (SAS) precipitation as precursors to Cu/ZnO catalysts for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction. The amorphous materials were prepared by varying the water/ethanol volumetric ratio in the initial metal acetate solutions. Water addition promoted georgeite formation at the expense of mixed metal acetates, which are formed in the absence of the water co-solvent. Optimum SAS precipitation occurs without water to give high surface areas, whereas high water content gives inferior surface areas and copper–zinc segregation. Calcination of the acetates is exothermic, producing a mixture of metal oxides with high crystallinity. However, thermal decomposition of zincian georgeite resulted in highly dispersed CuO and ZnO crystallites with poor structural order. The georgeite-derived catalysts give superior WGS performance to the acetate-derived catalysts, which is attributed to enhanced copper–zinc interactions that originate from the precursor.
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May 2017
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Grazia
Malta
,
Simon A.
Kondrat
,
Simon J.
Freakley
,
Catherine J.
Davies
,
Li
Lu
,
Simon
Dawson
,
Adam
Thetford
,
Emma K.
Gibson
,
David J.
Morgan
,
Wilm
Jones
,
Peter
Wells
,
Peter
Johnston
,
C. Richard A.
Catlow
,
Christopher J.
Kiely
,
Graham J.
Hutchings
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[10306, 11398, 15214]
Abstract: There remains considerable debate over the active form of gold under operating conditions of a recently validated gold catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination. We have performed an in situ x-ray absorption fine structure study of gold/carbon (Au/C) catalysts under acetylene hydrochlorination reaction conditions and show that highly active catalysts comprise single-site cationic Au entities whose activity correlates with the ratio of Au(I):Au(III) present. We demonstrate that these Au/C catalysts are supported analogs of single-site homogeneous Au catalysts and propose a mechanism, supported by computational modeling, based on a redox couple of Au(I)-Au(III) species.
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Mar 2017
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