Structured fiber catalysts

Recently, many papers have been published on fiber catalysts and foam structures (Figure 9.2). Although, strictly speaking, fibers and foams might not be considered as structured systems, beds of such catalysts exhibit typical features of structured catalysts, namely, low pressure drop, uniform fiow, a good and uniform access to the catalytic surface, and they are definitely nonrandom. Therefore, we have included them in this chapter. 

Figure 9.2 Fiber and foam structures, (a) Knitted silica fibers catalyst. (Reprinted from [7].) (b) Woven active carbon fiber catalyst. (Reprinted from [8].) (c) Aluminum foam. (Reprinted from [9].)...

Physisorption measurements showed that carbon nanomaterials exhibit rather meso- and macroporous structures (maximum micropore fraction, 15% see Table 2.1). The lowest specific surface area was measured with the platelet fiber catalyst exhibiting slightly more than 100 m2/g. The Co/HB material offers 120 m2/g of surface area, and the highest BET value was determined with the Co/ MW catalyst featuring nearly 290 m2/g. Carbon nanomaterials, though, are not really porous, as the space between the graphene layers is too small for nitrogen molecules to enter. The only location of adsorption is the external surface of the nanomaterials and the inner surface of the nanotubes. 

FIGURE 5 Fiber structures left, knitted silicon fibers catalyst (6) right, woven carbon fibers (7). 

Figure 11.19 Staged bubble column reactor with integrated structured catalyst layers and microheat exchanger (a) vertical cut through the heat exchanger element (b) and sintered metal fiber catalyst (c) [53]. (Adapted with permission from Elsevier.)...

Part A of Fig. 4 shows an optimal structure connected catalyst particles and PTFE fibers (gas pores) are dispersed as finely as possible for maximal surface area of three-phase zones. This enables the best GDE performance (i.e., highest current density at a given electrode potential). In reality, this is not yet achieved in state-of-the-art GDEs. 

It is clear that CNTs have many advantages over other carbon materials in terms of electrical and thermal properties. These properties offer CNTs great potential for wide applications in field emission, conducting plastics, thermal conductors, energy storage, conductive adhesives, thermal interface materials, structural materials, fibers, catalyst supports, biological applications, and ceramics and so on [35]. 

The premise that discontinuous short fibers such as floating catalyst VGCF can provide structural reinforcements can be supported by theoretical models developed for the structural properties of paper Cox [36]. This work was recently extended by Baxter to include general fiber architecture [37]. This work predicts that modulus of a composite, E can be determined from the fiber and matrix moduli, Ef and E, respectively, and the fiber volume fraction, Vf, by a variation of the rule of mixtures,... 

Alkoxysilanes undergo hydrolysis, condensation (catalysts for alkoxysilane hydrolysis are usually catalysts for condensation), and a bond formation stage under base as well as under acid catalyzed mechanisms. In addition to this reaction of silanols with hydroxyls of the fiber surface, the formation of polysiloxane structures also can take place. 

Polk et al. reported27 that PET fibers could be hydrolyzed with 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide at 80°C in the presence of trioctylmethylammonium bromide in 60 min to obtain terephthalic acid in 93% yield. The results of catalytic depolymerization of PET without agitation are listed in Table 10.1. The results of catalytic depolymerization of PET with agitation are listed in Table 10.2. As expected, agitation shortened the time required for 100% conversion. Results (Table 10.1) for the quaternary salts with a halide counterion were promising. Phenyltrimethylammonium chloride (PTMAC) was chosen to ascertain whether steric effects would hinder catalytic activity. Bulky alkyl groups of the quaternary ammonium compounds were expected to hinder close approach of the catalyst to the somewhat hidden carbonyl groups of the fiber structure. The results indicate that steric hindrance is not a problem for PET hydrolysis under this set of conditions since the depolymerization results were substantially lower for PTMAC than for die more sterically hindered quaternary salts. 

Polypropylene was not developed until the 1950s when Ziegler and Natta invented coordination catalysts. The structural difference between polyethylene and polypropylene is the methyl group in the propylene unit. Its presence makes a difference because it makes possible three different polymer structures Isotactic, with all methyl groups in the same plane makes the best plastic syndiotactic, in which the methyl groups alternate in the same plane and atactic, with the methyl groups randomly in and out of the plane is soft and rubbery. Polypropylene is used as film and in many structural forms. It is also used as fibers for carpet manufacture and for thermal clothing. 

Hydrogenation reactions, particularly for the manufacture of fine chemicals, prevail in the research of three-phase processes. Examples are hydrogenation of citral (selectivity > 80% [86-88]) and 2-butyne-l,4-diol (conversion > 80% and selectivity > 97% [89]). Eor Pt/ACE the yield to n-sorbitol in hydrogenation of D-glucose exceeded 99.5% [90]. Water denitrification via hydrogenation of nitrites and nitrates was extensively studied using fiber-based catalysts [91-95]. An attempt to use fiber-structured catalysts for wet air oxidation of organics (4-nitrophenol as a model compound) in water was successful. TOC removal up to 90% was achieved [96]. 

Structure The polymers are produced as powders or as films on the electrodes. Most conductive polymers have a fibrous structure, each fiber consisting of hundreds of strands of polymer molecules. Techniques exist to control fiber preparation so as to obtain nanofibers expected to be particularly useful as catalyst substrates and in electronic applications (MacDiannid, 2000). 

Size Controlled Pd Nanoparticles Anchored to Carbon Fiber Fabrics Novel Structured Catalyst Effective for Selective Hydrogenation... 

The poly(5-fnethyl-l, 4-hexadiene) fiber pattern (Figure 6) gave an identity period of 6.3 A, indicating a 3 isotactic helix structure. The X-ray diffraction pattern was not very sharp, which may be due to the difficulty of the side chain with a double bond to fit in a crystalline lattice. The crystallinity was determined to be 15% using the Hermans and Weidinger method (27). A Chloroform-soluble fraction free from catalyst residues showed no improvement in the sharpness of the X-ray diffraction pattern. These data show that the configuration of the 1,2-polymerization units in the homopolymer of 5-methyl-1,4-hexadiene is isotactic. 

In the laboratories of Natta in Milan it was found that the Ziegler catalysts could polymerize (besides ethene) propene, styrene, and several a-olefins to high linear polymers. These polymers appeared crystalline when examined by X-ray diffraction techniques and were able to give oriented fibers. In less than one year since the preparation of the first polymer of propene, Natta was able to communicate, in the meeting of the Accademia dei Lincei of December 1954 in Rome, that a new chapter had been disclosed in the field of macromolecular chemistry, due to the discovery of processes to obtain polymers with an extraordinary regularity in their structure in terms of both chemical constitution and configuration of the successive monomeric units along the chain of each macromolecule. 

The main difference between titania nanotube and the ID nanostructures discussed before is the presence of an hollow structure, but which has significant consequences for their use as catalytic materials (i) in the hollow fiber nanoconfinement effects are possible, which can be relevant for enhancing the catalytic performance (ii) due to the curvature, similarly to multi-wall carbon nanotubes, the inner surface in the nanotube is different from that present on the external surface this effect could be also used to develop new catalysts and (iii) different active components can be localized on the external and internal walls to realize spatially separated (on a nanoscale level) multifunctional catalysts. 

Although, the true density of solid phase p=m/Vp (e.g., g/cm3) is defined by an atomic-molecular structure (/ ), it has become fundamental to the definition of many texture parameters. In the case of porous solids, the volume of solid phase Vp is equal to the volume of all nonporous components (particles, fibers, etc.) of a PS. That is, Vp excludes all pores that may be present in the particles and the interparticular space. The PS shown in Figure 9.17a is formed from nonporous particles that form porous aggregates, which, in turn, form a macroscopic granule of a catalyst. In this case, the volume Vp is equal to the total volume of all nonporous primary particles, and the free volume between and inside the aggregates (secondary particles) is not included. 

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