Metal catalysts, supported interface

The present model deals with a supported transition metal cation which is highly dispersed, at the molecular scale, on an oxide, or exchanged in a zeolite. In the case of zeolite-supported cations, the formation of different metal species in metal/zeolite catalysts (metal oxides, metal oxocations, besides cationic species) has been considered by different authors who have suggested these species to play key roles in SCR catalysis [14,15], This supported cation can also be considered as located at a metal oxide/support interface. 

Electrochemical promotion (EP) denotes electrically controlled modification of heterogeneous catalytic activity and/or selectivity. This recently discovered phenomenon has made a strong impact on modem electrochemistry/ catalysis/ and surface science. Although it manifests itself also using aqueous electrolytes/ the phenomenon has mainly been investigated in gas-phase reactions over metal and metal oxide catalysts. In the latter case, the catalyst, which is an electron conductor, is deposited in the form of a porous thin film on a solid electrolyte support, which is an ion conductor at the temperature of the catalytic reaction. Application of an electric potential on the catalyst/support interface or, which is equivalent, passing an electric current between catalyst and support, causes a concomitant change also in the properties of the adjacent catalyst/gas interface, where the catalytic reaction takes place. This results in an alteration of the catalytic behaviour, controllable with the applied potential or current. 

EC-NMR was pioneered by Wieck-owsld s group [18] at the University of Illinois at the beginning of 1990s and, as noted above, has its roots in metal NMR of oxide-supported metal catalysts. However, interfacing solid-state NMR with interfacial electrochemistry is somewhat... 

Coke formation on these catalysts occurs mainly via methane decomposition. Deactivation as a function of coke content (see Fig. 3 for Pt/ y-AljO,) seems to involve two processes, i e, a slow initial one caused by coke formed from methane on Pt that is non reactive towards CO2 (see Table 3) In parallel, carbon also accumulates on the support and given the ratio between the support surface and metal surface area at a certain level begins to physically block Pt deactivating the catalyst rapidly. The coke deposited on the support very close to the Pt- support interface could be playing an important role in this process. 

The literature of metal-support interactions includes httle about the possible chemical bonding of metal clusters or particles to supports. Supported molecular metal clusters with carbonyl ligands removed have afforded opportunities to understand the metal-support interface in some detail, and the results provide insights into the bonding of clusters to supports that appear to be generalizable beyond the small clusters to the larger particles of conventional supported metal catalysts [6]. 

In many cases there is an interaction between the carrier and the active component of the catalyst so that the character of the active surface will change. For example, the electronic character of the supported catalyst may be influenced by the transfer of electrons across the catalyst-carrier interface. In some cases the carrier itself has a catalytic activity for the primary reaction, an intermediate reaction, or a subsequent reaction, and a dual-function catalyst is thereby obtained. Materials of this type are widely employed in reforming processes. There are other cases where the interaction of the catalyst and support are much more subtle and difficult to label. For example, the crystal size and structure of supported metal catalysts as well as the manner in which the metal is dispersed can be influenced by the nature of the support material. 

The argument of each sine contribution in (6-8) depends on k, which is known, r, which is to be determined, and the phase shift (f(k). The latter needs to be known before r can be determined. The phase shift is a characteristic property of the scattering atom in a certain environment, and is best derived from the EXAFS spectrum of a reference compound, for which all distances are known. For example, the phase shift for zero-valent rhodium atoms in the EXAFS spectrum of a supported rhodium catalyst is best determined from a spectrum of pure rhodium metal as in Fig. 6.13, while RI12O3 may provide a reference for the scattering contribution from oxygen neighbors in the metal support interface. 

A central question with respect to supported metal catalysts is that of the structure of the metal-support interface. Various possibilities have been proposed, varying from interfaces consisting of a mixed metal aluminate or silicate layer [17] or the presence of metal ions which serve as anchors between particle and support [18] to the attractive interaction between ions of the support and the dipoles that these ions induce in the metal particle [19]. EXAFS highlights the atomic surroundings of an atom in the catalyst, and if the supported metal particles are sufficiently small, oxygen atoms in the metal-support interface give a measurable contribution to the EXAFS spectrum. 

Figure 9.5 EXAFS of Rh/AKO, catalysts after reduction at 200 °C (left) and 400 °C (right) top the magnitude of the Fourier transform of the measured EXAFS signal, bottom the back transformed EXAFS corresponding to distances from Rh atoms of between 0.8 and 3.2 nm. The lower Fourier transform contains a dominant contribution from Rh nearest neighbors at 0.27 nm and a minor contribution from oxygen neighbors in the metal-support interface. After correction for the Rh-O phase shift, the oxygen ions are at a distance of 0.27 nm (from Koningsberger et at. 119]).

Optimized catalysts. Samples should be suitable for investigating the particular aspect of the catalyst one is interested in. For example, meaningful information on the metal-support interface is only obtained if the supported... 

The prototype reaction was the hydroformylation of oleyl alcohol (water insoluble) with a water-soluble rhodium complex, HRh(C0)[P(m-C6H4S03Na)3]3 (Figure 6.5). Oleyl alcohol was converted to the aldehyde (yield = 97%) using 2 mol % Rh with respect to the substrate and cyclohexane as the solvent, at 50 atmospheres CO/H2, and 100°C. The SAPCs were shown to be stable upon recycling, and extensive work proved that Rh is not leached into the organic phase. Since neither oleyl alcohol nor its products are water soluble, the reaction must take place at the aqueous-organic interface where Rh must be immobilized. Also, if the metal catalyst was supported on various controlled pore glasses with... 

In many catalytic systems, nanoscopic metallic particles are dispersed on ceramic supports and exhibit different stmctures and properties from bulk due to size effect and metal support interaction etc. For very small metal particles, particle size may influence both geometric and electronic structures. For example, gold particles may undergo a metal-semiconductor transition at the size of about 3.5 nm and become active in CO oxidation [10]. Lattice contractions have been observed in metals such as Pt and Pd, when the particle size is smaller than 2-3 nm [11, 12]. Metal support interaction may have drastic effects on the chemisorptive properties of the metal phase [13-15]. Therefore the stmctural features such as particles size and shape, surface stmcture and configuration of metal-substrate interface are of great importance since these features influence the electronic stmctures and hence the catalytic activities. Particle shapes and size distributions of supported metal catalysts were extensively studied by TEM [16-19]. Surface stmctures such as facets and steps were observed by high-resolution surface profile imaging [20-23]. Metal support interaction and other behaviours under various environments were discussed at atomic scale based on the relevant stmctural information accessible by means of TEM [24-29]. 

More recently, the scope of using hyperbranched polymers as soluble supports in catalysis has been extended by the synthesis of amphiphilic star polymers bearing a hyperbranched core and amphiphilic diblock graft arms. This approach is based on previous work, where the authors reported the synthesis of a hyperbranched macroinitiator and its successful application in a cationic grafting-from reaction of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline to obtain water-soluble, amphiphilic star polymers [73]. Based on this approach, Nuyken et al. prepared catalyticaUy active star polymers where the transition metal catalysts are located at the core-shell interface. The synthesis is outlined in Scheme 6.10. 

A relevant aspect to consider for this goal is to develop metal-oxide catalysts showing ordered interfaces. Onishi and Iwasawa remarked the role of the interfacial chemistry on metal-oxides on the reactivity. Also in metal nanoparticles supported on metal-oxides, the interface between the two plays a relevant catalytic role. ... 

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