Supported liquid films

The discussion in the previous sections has evidenced that the use of biphasic systems has solved, at least in various cases, the problem of homogeneous catalyst recovery and recycle, but there still exists the problem of the cost of recycle and especially of reaction rate per volume of reactor, which derives in large part from mass- and heat-transfer limitations, but also from the low amount of catalytic centers per volume of reactor necessary to avoid side reactions and maintain a high selectivity, and/or limit catalyst deactivation or loss. These aspects often emerge only during the scaling-up and industrialization of the reaction and this is one of the reasons why many interesting reactions at the laboratory scale fail in commercialization. 

An interesting approach to overcome these limits and thus combine the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis is that of supported liquid phase catalysts (SLPC or SLP). In SLPC the organometallic complex active components are dissolved in a small quantity of liquid phase dispersed in the form of an isle or film on the surface of supports. A SLPC has been applied successfully for several chemical transformations [113], particularly in the Wacker-type ethylene oxidation to acetaldehyde and vinyl acetate production by ethylene acetoxylation [114], and in other reactions catalyzed by Pd-complexes such as the Heck reaction [115]. 

Supported ionic liquid catalysis is one of the main examples of SLPC adopted [120] to take advantage of ionic liquid properties without the drawbacks evidenced in Section 2.3.6. The viability of this concept has been confirmed by several studies that have successfully confined various ionic phases to the surface of support materials and explored their potential catalytic applications. Although most of the evaluated supports were silica based, several studies have focused on polymeric materials, including membranes. These materials were prepared by using two different immobilization approaches. The first involves the covalent attachment of ionic liquids to the support surface whereas the second simply deposits the ionic liquid phases containing catalytically active species on the surface of the support. 

It must be also noted that supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalysis can also be successfully combined with supercritical fluids. Cole-Hamilton et al. [127] have reported recently high activity (rates up to 800 h ), stable performances ( 40 h) and minimum rhodium leaching (0.5 ppm) in the hydroformylation of 1-octene using a system that involves flowing the substrate, reacting gases and products dissolved in 

SILP systems have proven to be interesting not only for catalysis but also in separation technologies [128]. In particular, the use of supported ionic liquids can facilitate selective transport of substrates across membranes. Supported liquid membranes (SLMs) have the advantage of liquid phase diffusivities, which are higher than those observed in polymers and grant proportionally higher permeabilities. The use of a supported ionic liquid, due to their stability and negligible vapor pressure, allow us to overcome the lack of stability caused by volatilization of the transport liquid. SLMs have been applied, for example, in the selective separation of aromatic hydrocarbons [129] and CO2 separation [130, 131]. 

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Although this technique has not been used extensively, it does allow structures of adsorbed layers on solid substrates to be studied. Liquid reflectivity may also be performed with a similar set-up, which relies on a liquid-liquid interface acting as the reflective surface and measures the reflectivity of a thin supported liquid film. This technique has recently been used to investigate water-alkane interfaces [55] and is potentially useful in understanding the interaction of ionic liquids with molecular solvents in which they are immiscible. 

The discussion so far implies that membrane materials are organic polymers, and in fact most membranes used commercially are polymer-based. However, in recent years, interest in membranes made of less conventional materials has increased. Ceramic membranes, a special class of microporous membranes, are being used in ultrafiltration and microfiltration applications for which solvent resistance and thermal stability are required. Dense, metal membranes, particularly palladium membranes, are being considered for the separation of hydrogen from gas mixtures, and supported liquid films are being developed for carrier-facilitated transport processes. 

The present chapter targets multiphasic catalytic systems that can be represented in general as L-L-S and L-L-L-S systems (Figure 6.3). The liquid phases are two or three, and separate at ambient conditions. One of the Ls is a catalyst-phihc liquid phase that can be either ionic or hydrophilic, the equivalent to the supported liquid film described in the previous section. Figure 6.3 shows the two different arrangements of the multiphasic systems that is considered here. 

By using the concept of nanoconfined liquids it is possible to improve both the stability of supported liquid films (a critical problem in all catalysts previously discussed) and the catalytic performances, because ... 

We could thus conclude that this is a worthy area for R D, but the sustainability of proposed processes still presents more doubts than certainties. However, new developments, such as that discussed for supported liquid films, open up very interesting perspectives, although intense R D is still necessary. 

Supported aqueous-phase catalysts (SAPC) can be seen as a special case of adsorption, whereby a water-soluble catalyst dissolved in a very polar solvent is adsorbed on a hydrophilic support forming a water film on the inner surface of the support [30,31]. In the case of supported liquid-phase catalysis (SLPC),the water film on the inner surface is replaced by a solvent of low vapor pressure (e.g.jphthalic acid esters) [2]. The reaction itself takes place in the supportedUq-uid or at the interface of the supported liquid film, or in the gas phase or organic phase when dealing with SLPC or SAPC, respectively. The use of SLPC catalysts is generally restricted to the synthesis of low-boiling compounds. 

S. Kar and P.K. Dasgupta, Measurement of phenols on a loop-supported liquid film by micellar electrokinetic chromatography and direct UV detection, J. Chromatogr. A, 379, 379-387, 1996. 

Classic concept of catalyst immobilization Catalyst immobilized in supported liquid film... 

Foam and emulsion films are never thermodynamically stable and vhll eventually rupture. Solid-supported liquid films can be stable. 

The aim of breaking up a thin film of liquid into an aerosol by a cross flow of gas has been developed with frits, which are essentially a means of supporting a film of liquid on a porous surface. As the liquid flows onto one surface of the frit (frequently made from glass), argon gas is forced through from the undersurface (Figure 19.16). Where the gas meets the liquid film, the latter is dispersed into an aerosol and is carried as usual toward the plasma flame. There have been several designs of frit nebulizers, but all work in a similar fashion. Mean droplet diameters are approximately 100 nm, and over 90% of the liquid sample can be transported to the flame. 

In supported liquid membranes, a chiral liquid is immobilized in the pores of a membrane by capillary and interfacial tension forces. The immobilized film can keep apart two miscible liquids that do not wet the porous membrane. Vaidya et al. [10] reported the effects of membrane type (structure and wettability) on the stability of solvents in the pores of the membrane. Examples of chiral separation by a supported liquid membrane are extraction of chiral ammonium cations by a supported (micro-porous polypropylene film) membrane [11] and the enantiomeric separation of propranolol (2) and bupranolol (3) by a nitrate membrane with a A/ -hexadecyl-L-hydroxy proline carrier [12]. 

Thin liquid films on a fluid surface were also employed for the construction of protein arrays [40]. The construction of a tightly chemically bound protein monolayer onto a solid support required detailed systematic study involving careful optimization of reaction conditions and comparison of the efficacy of several alternatives [46]. 

EfiBdent hydrogen supply iiom decalin was only accomplished by the si terheated liquid-film-type catalysis under reactive distillation conditions at modaate heating tempaatures of 210-240°C. Caibcm-supported nano-size platinum-based catalysts in the si ietheated liquid-film states accelerated product desorption fixjm file catalyst surface due to its temperature gradient under boiling conditions, so that both hi reaction rates and conversions were obtained simultaneously. 

AXB) shows time courees of amounts of evolved hydrogen and decalin conversions with caibon-supported platinum-based catalysts unda" supeiheated liquid-film conditions. Enhancement of dehydrogenation activities for decalin was realized by using fiiese composite catalysts. The Pt-W / C composite catalyst exhibited the hipest reaction rate at the initial stage, whereas the Pt-Re / C composite catalyst showed the second highest reaction rate in addition to low in sensitivity to retardation due to naphthaloie adsorbed on catalytic active sites [1-5], as indicated in Fig. 2(A) ). 

Liquid film state under reactive distillation conditions for the dehydrogenation of decalin on platinum supported on active carbon and boehmite... 

Liquid film membranes consist of immiscible solutions held in membrane supports by capillary forces. The chemical composition of these solutions is designed to enhance transport rates of selected components through them by solubility or coupled chemical reaction. 

At very high qualities the liquid film is thin and the rate of entrainment is low. The entrained liquid mass flux curve is almost parallel with the total liquid mass flux in Figure 5.26 i.e., the liquid evaporation rate is supported solely by the liquid deposition rate. If the boiling heat flux q" < q D, where q"D = GDH]g, the boiling crisis can be averted by a deposition liquid mass flux, GD, as shown in Figure 5.26, and therefore is called deposition-controlled CHF. 

Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Tetralin over Carbon-Supported Platinum Nanoparticles under Superheated Liquid-Film... 

Carbon-Supported Nickel-Based Nanoparticles under Superheated Liquid-Film Conditions.452... 

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