Use of renewables for the production of chemicals: Glycerol oxidation over carbon supported gold catalysts

As a renewable feedstock and due to its high functionality glycerol is an attractive reactant for the production of a large number of valuable compounds. We report on an environmentally friendly alternative to produce chemicals from the glycerol oxidation, which are currently produced either by stoichiometric oxidation processes or by enzymatic routes. We investigate the heterogeneously catalyzed liquid-phase oxidation of glycerol with carbon supported gold catalysts. The prepared nanosized gold catalysts are highly active, so that the reaction could be performed under atmospheric pressure. The influence of the preparation method of the catalysts has been investigated. Moreover, the support effect on the catalytic process has been studied and discussed in terms of pore structure of the investigated carbon materials. The promotor effect of platinum on Au/C catalysts was examined and it could be shown that the presence of Pt increases not only the catalyst activity but also the selectivity. By promoting the gold catalysts with platinum the selectivity to dihydroxyacetone could be increased from 26% (Au/C) to 36% (Au–Pt/C).     

Influence of the preparation conditions on the properties of gold catalysts for the oxidation of glucose

In this work, two deposition–precipitation methods for the preparation of gold catalysts for glucose oxidation were investigated. Thus far, gold colloids immobilized on carbon have been used for catalytic glucose oxidation, but the long-term stability of these systems was not sufficient. To improve the long-term stability we used the deposition–precipitation methods using NaOH (DP NaOH) or urea (DP urea) as precipitation agents as they were described by Haruta and Dekkers, respectively, using alumina as a support material. With these methods, it was possible to prepare highly active and selective catalysts which showed an excellent long-term stability. DP urea was found to be the preferred method, because in contrast to DP NaOH, no losses of gold occurred during the preparation, and it was possible to adjust various gold contents up to 10 wt% Au.     

Gold nanoparticles supported on ceria-modified mesoporous titania as highly active catalysts for low-temperature water-gas shift reaction

New gold catalytic system prepared on ceria-modified mesoporous titania (CeMTi) used as water-gas shift (WGS) reaction catalyst is reported. Mesoporous titania (MTi) was synthesized using surfactant templating method through a neutral [C₁₃(EO)₆–Ti(OC₃H₇)₄] assembly pathway. Ceria modifying additive was deposited on MTi by deposition precipitation (DP) method. Gold-based catalysts with different gold content (1–5 wt.%) were synthesized by DP of gold hydroxide on mixed metal oxide support. The supports and the catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), N₂ adsorption analysis and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The catalytic behavior of the gold-based catalysts was evaluated in WGS reaction in a wide temperature range (140–300 °C) and at different space velocities and H₂O/CO ratios. The influence of gold content and particle size on the catalytic performance was investigated. The WGS activity of the new gold/ceria-modified mesoporous titania catalysts was compared with that of gold catalysts supported on simple oxides CeO₂ and mesoporous TiO₂, as well as gold/ceria-modified titania and reference catalyst Au/TiO₂ type A (World Gold Council). A high degree of synergistic interaction between ceria and mesoporous titania and a positive modification of structural and catalytic properties by ceria has been achieved. It is clearly revealed that the ceria-modified mesoporous titania is of much interest as potential support for gold-based catalyst. The Au/ceria-modified mesoporous titania catalytic system is found to be efficient catalyst for WGSR.     

纳米金复合催化剂制备及其低温选择催化环己烷氧化性能

采用光催化直接还原法将Au(0)负载在TiO2修饰的中孔分子筛MCM-41的孔道内外,采用XRD, N2吸附-脱附,FT-IR, TEM和EDS等手段对所制催化剂进行了表征,并考察了其在温和条件下对环己烷选择性氧化反应的催化性能. 结果表明,所制纳米金催化剂的分子筛载体仍具有较高的结晶度,金颗粒粒径在10 nm左右. 在环己烷氧化反应中,纳米金与TiO2光催化共同作用,使复合催化剂具有低温高催化活性. 在温度100℃、压力1.0 MPa及250 W紫外灯光照8 h的条件下,环己烷转化率高达3.9%,目的产物的总选择性为90.2%.     

Research on unsupported nanoporous gold catalyst for CO oxidation

Nanoporous gold (NPG), a novel unsupported gold catalyst prepared by dealloying, exhibits exceptional catalytic activity for CO oxidation. Systematic studies were carried out on this new catalytic system, including the active sites of catalysts, the reaction kinetics, and activity dependence as functions of space velocity and temperature. Our results show strong evidence that metallic gold atoms on NPG are the intrinsic active sites at which the reaction of CO with O₂ occurs. The kinetic study found that the reaction rate of CO oxidation on unsupported NPG depends significantly on CO concentration but only slightly on O₂ concentration. We suggest that CO adsorption plays a decisive role in CO oxidation on NPG as the rate-limiting step. By completely ruling out the support influence, our findings provide considerable insight into the role of gold catalysts.     

Highly reproducible syntheses of active Au/TiO2 catalysts for CO oxidation by deposition–precipitation or impregnation

Gold catalysts supported on TiO₂ were prepared by a deposition–precipitation (DP) method to investigate how highly reproducible performance of the gold catalysts in CO oxidation can be achieved. A protocol was established for synthesizing identically performing catalysts by different operators. The results show that for this synthesis route, the calcination step is not needed to form highly active Au/TiO₂ catalysts, but leads to decreased activity. Improved catalytic activity was observed when a high solution pH was adjusted during the precipitation. Surprisingly, wet impregnation followed by ammonia steam treatment and a washing step with water also leads to Au/TiO₂ with 2- to 4-nm individual gold particles highly dispersed on the TiO₂ surface. In addition, this catalyst is active for room temperature CO oxidation. The temperature for 50% conversion of CO is below 25 °C, which is comparable to that of the gold catalyst prepared by the DP method. Therefore, contrary to reports in the literature, the impregnation method can be used in the preparation of high-activity gold catalysts.     

响应面法优化麦芽糖水解制备5-羟甲基糠醛

以麦芽糖为原料,水为溶剂,考察了磷酸、硫酸、乙酸锌和氢氧化钠为催化剂对5-羟甲基糠醛制备的催化效果。研究结果表明：氢氧化钠的催化能力远高于其他催化剂,且用量较少。以5-羟甲基糠醛的收率为衡量标准,采取响应面法对反应条件进行了优化,得到最佳条件为反应温度95.20 ℃、催化剂氢氧化钠的质量2.25 g、反应时间6.17 h。在此反应条件下,5-羟甲基糠醛的收率达61.13 %。红外谱图分析结果与标准样品谱图一致,表明由麦芽糖成功制备了5-HMF。     

EPR investigation, before and after adsorption of naphtalene, of mordenite containing Fe3+ and Cr5+ ions as impurities

The Au/SnO₂ catalysts were prepared by a co-precipitation method. The structure of the sample treated at different temperatures was investigated by means of HRTEM and XPS. The structure of the samples after various treatments and their activity in the CO oxidation were compared. The results showed that the catalytic behavior was related to the particle size of gold and surface oxygen species on the support. Highly dispersed gold particles and adsorbed surface oxygens and hydroxyl groups on the support were responsible for the high catalytic activity of the Au/SnO₂ catalyst.     

Gold catalysts supported on ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia for low-temperature water–gas shift reaction

New gold catalytic system prepared on ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia used as water–gas shift (WGS) catalyst is reported. Mesoporous zirconia was synthesized using surfactant templating method through a neutral [C₁₃(EO)₆-Zr(OC₃H₇)₄] assembly pathway. Ceria modifying additive was deposited on mesoporous zirconia by deposition–precipitation method. Gold-based catalysts with different gold content (1–3 wt. %) were synthesized by deposition–precipitation of gold hydroxide on mixed metal oxide support. The supports and the catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption analysis and temperature programmed reduction. The catalytic behavior of the gold-based catalysts was evaluated in WGS reaction in a wide temperature range (140–300 °C) and at different space velocities and H₂O/CO ratios. The influence of gold content and particle size on the catalytic performance was investigated. The WGS activity of the new Au/ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia catalysts was compared with that of gold catalysts supported on simple oxides CeO₂ and mesoporous ZrO₂, revealing significantly higher catalytic activity of Au/ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia. A high degree of synergistic interaction between ceria and mesoporous zirconia and a positive modification of structural and catalytic properties by ceria have been achieved. It is clearly revealed that the ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia is of much interest as potential support for gold-based catalyst. The Au/ceria-modified mesoporous zirconia catalytic system is found to be effective catalyst for WGS reaction.     

Gold catalysts supported on mesoporous zirconia for low-temperature water–gas shift reaction

Mesoporous ZrO₂ with high surface area and uniform pore size distribution, synthesized by surfactant templating through a neutral [C₁₃(EO)₆–Zr(OC₃H₇)₄] assembly pathway, was used as a support of gold catalysts prepared by deposition–precipitation method. The supports and the catalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption analysis, temperature programmed reduction and desorption. The catalytic activity of gold supported on mesoporous zirconia was evaluated in water–gas shift (WGS) reaction at wide temperature range (140–300 °C) and at different space velocities and H₂O/CO ratios. The catalytic behaviour and the reasons for а reversible deactivation of Au/mesoporous zirconia catalysts were studied. The influence of gold content and particle size on the catalytic performance was investigated. The WGS activity of the new Au/mesoporous zirconia catalyst was compared to the reference Au/TiO₂ type A (World Gold Council), revealing significantly higher catalytic activity of Au/mesoporous zirconia catalyst. It is found that the mesoporous zirconia is a very efficient support of gold-based catalyst for the WGS reaction.     

环己烷分子氧选择性氧化固体催化剂研究进展

对环己烷分子氧催化氧化制环己酮固体催化剂的最新进展进行了综述,重点介绍了贵金属催化剂、过渡金属及其氧化物催化剂和分子筛催化剂。指出锆基复合氧化物催化剂和负载在分子筛上的金催化剂具有较高的催化活性和选择性及好的稳定性,具有一定的应用及工业化前景。     

Catalytic activity of ethylene oxidation over Au,Ag and Au–Ag catalysts: Support effect

Au, Ag and Au–Ag catalysts on different supports of alumina, titania and ceria were studied for their catalytic activity of ethylene oxidation reactions. An addition of an appropriate amount of Au on Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst was found to enhance the catalytic activity of the ethylene epoxidation reaction because Au acts as a diluting agent on the Ag surface creating new single silver sites which favor molecular oxygen adsorption. The Ag catalysts on both titania and ceria supports exhibited very poor catalytic activity toward the epoxidation reaction of ethylene, so pure Au catalysts on these two supports were investigated. The Au/TiO₂ catalysts provided the highest selectivity of ethylene oxide with relatively low ethylene conversion whereas, the Au/CeO₂ catalysts was shown to favor the total oxidation reaction over the epoxidation reaction at very low temperatures. In comparisons among the studied catalysts, the bimetallic Au–Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst is the best candidate for the ethylene epoxidation. The catalytic activity of the gold catalysts was found to depend on the support material and catalyst preparation method which govern the Au particle size and the interaction between the Au particles and the support.     

锆改性氧化铝负载的纳米金催化剂上环己烷氧化研究

通过浸溃法制备氧化锫改性的氧化铝载体,并采用改进的阴离子交换法(DAE)制备了负载型纳米金催化剂.以分子氧为氧化剂,考察了金催化剂在环己烷选择性氧化制环己酮和环己醇反应中的催化性能.结果表明,提高锆含量,环己烷转化率保持稳定,环己酮和环己醇总选择性,尤其是环己酮的选择性明显提高.随着金负载量增加,金颗粒增大,催化剂的活性降低,金颗粒在6nm以下的催化剂具有很高的催化活性.在423K,1.5MPa、3h反应条件下,0.6%(wt) 金和17%(wt)锆含量的催化剂上环己烷氧化得到9,5%的转化率,环己酮和环己醇的选择性分别为38.8%和51.5%.     

Catalytic ozone oxidation of benzene at low temperature over MnOx/Al-SBA-16 catalyst

The low-temperature catalytic ozone oxidation of benzene was investigated. In this study, Al-SBA-16 (Si/Al = 20) that has a three-dimensional cubic Im3m structure and a high specific surface area was used for catalytic ozone oxidation for the first time. Two different Mn precursors, i.e., Mn acetate and Mn nitrate, were used to synthesize Mn-impregnated Al-SBA-16 catalysts. The characteristics of these two catalysts were investigated by instrumental analyses using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction. A higher catalytic activity was exhibited when Mn acetate was used as the Mn precursor, which is attributed to high Mn dispersion and a high degree of reduction of Mn oxides formed by Mn acetate than those formed by Mn nitrate.     

金催化剂及其在化工中的应用研究进展

系统地介绍了影响金催化剂催化活性的因素,论述了金属金催化剂在CO低温氧化、CO的选择性氧化、低温水气变换、甲醇的部分氧化、苯乙烯环氧化和葡萄糖的选择性氧化等反应中的研究进展,分析了今后金催化剂的研究重点。     

Oxidation Catalysis by Supported Gold Nano-Clusters

The historical notion regarding the inability of gold to catalyze reactions has been discarded in view of recent studies, which have clearly demonstrated the high catalytic efficiency of supported nano-gold catalysts. Although nano-Au catalysts are known to catalyze a variety of reactions, the major focus has been on CO oxidation catalysis. In this work we focus on the important aspects related to the CO oxidation reaction. Special emphasis is placed on the studies undertaken on model nano-Au systems as these studies have considerably enhanced the understanding of the oxidation process. Gold in a highly dispersed state can selectively oxidize CO in the presence of excess hydrogen (of tremendous interest to state-of-the-art low-temperature fuel cells); related studies are addressed in this review. The nano-gold catalysts have also been investigated for the direct vapor-phase oxidation of propylene to propylene oxide in the presence of molecular oxygen; these investigations are highlighted in this work.     

Deposition of Gold Particles on Mesoporous Catalyst Supports by Sonochemical Method, and their Catalytic Performance for CO Oxidation

Supported gold catalysts on the mesoporous (MSP) metal oxides were prepared by a one-step, ultrasound-assisted reduction method, and characterized by XRD, HRTEM, EDX, BET, and XPS analysis. Their catalytic activities were examined in the oxidation of CO. Compared to the Au/Fe₂O₃(MSP) catalyst, the Au/TiO₂(MSP) and Au/Fe₂O₃-TiO₂(MSP) catalysts exhibited higher catalytic activity in the oxidation of CO at low temperatures. The high catalytic activity of Au/TiO₂(MSP) was attributed to the metallic state of the gold nanoparticles, their small size (2–2.5 nm), and their high dispersion on the catalyst support.     

Monodispersed gold nanoparticles supported on γ-Al2O3 for enhancement of low-temperature catalytic oxidation of CO

Monodispersed nano-Au/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts for low-temperature oxidation of CO have been prepared via a modified colloidal deposition route, which involves the deposition of dodecanethiolate self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-protected gold nanoparticles (C₁₂ nano-Au) in hexane on γ-Al₂O₃ at room temperature. The diameter of the gold nanoparticles deposited on the support is 2.5 ± 0.8 nm after thermal treatment, and their valence states comprise both the metallic and oxidized states. It is found that the thermal treatment temperature affects significantly the catalytic activity of the catalysts in the processing steps. The catalyst treated at 190 °C exhibits considerably higher activity as compared to catalysts treated at 165 and 250 °C. A 2.0-wt.% nano-Au/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst treated at 190 °C for 15 h maintains the catalytic activity at nearly 100% CO oxidation for at least 800 h at 15 °C, at least 600 h at 0 °C, and even longer than 450 h at −5 °C. Evidently, the catalysts obtained using this preparation route show high catalytic activity, particularly at low temperatures, and a good long-term stability.     

Catalytic combustion of formaldehyde on gold/iron-oxide catalysts

A series of gold/iron-oxide catalysts for catalytic combustion of formaldehyde were prepared by co-precipitation. The catalyst containing 7.10 wt% of gold exhibited the highest catalytic activity. On this catalyst, the catalytic combustion reaction of formaldehyde proceeded at considerable rates at 20 °C and complete burn-off of formaldehyde was achieved at 80 °C. The catalysts were stable and remained active in the presence of moisture and are good substitutes for the noble metals (Pt, Pd) catalysts. The structure of catalysts, the valence state of gold and the size of gold particles were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Gold atoms with fractional positive charge (Au^δ+) were found to exist in the catalyst and play an important role in the catalytic activity. Interaction between active species and support also provided important contribution to the valence state of gold and the activity for the catalytic combustion of HCHO.     

Gold-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol: Effect of Gold Particle Size on Activity and Selectivity in Different Solvents

The effect of the size of gold particles deposited on CeO₂ and TiO₂ supports on their catalytic behavior in the aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in different solvents (mesitylene, toluene, and supercritical carbon dioxide) has been investigated. The size of supported gold particles deposited via a colloidal route was in the range 1.3–11.3 nm, as determined by means of EXAFS and HAADF-STEM measurements. The catalytic performance of the supported gold catalysts in the different solvents revealed a significant effect of the gold particle size. Optimal activity was observed for catalysts with medium particle size (ca. 6.9 nm) whereas smaller and bigger particles showed inferior activity. Identical trends for the activity–particle size relationship were found using Au/CeO₂ and Au/TiO₂ for the reaction at atmospheric pressure in conventional solvents (mesitylene, toluene) as well as under supercritical conditions (scCO₂). Selectivity to benzaldehyde was only weakly affected by the gold particle size and mainly depended on reaction conditions. In supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) selectivity was higher than in the conventional solvents under atmospheric pressure. All catalysts tested with particle sizes ranging from 1.3 to 11.3 nm showed excellent selectivity of 99% or higher under supercritical conditions.