John R. Regalbuto
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
ENG Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:
August 1, 2006
Expires:
July 31, 2010 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:
$1235380
Investigator(s):
Israel Wachs iew0@lehigh.edu(Principal Investigator)
Matthew Neurock (Co-Principal Investigator) Michael Wong (Co-Principal Investigator) Christopher Kiely (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:
Lehigh University
Alumni Building 27
Bethlehem, PA 18015 610/758-3021
NSF Program(s):
ENG DIVERSITY ACTIVITIES, EAPSI, NANOSCALE: INTRDISCPL RESRCH T, CATALYSIS AND BIOCATALYSIS
Proposal Title: NIRT: Tuning the Electronic and Molecular Structures
of Catalytic Active Sites with Oxide Nanoligand
Proposal Number: CTS-0609018
Principal Investigator: Israel E. Wachs
Institution: Lehigh University
Analysis (rationale for decision):
This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 05-610, category NIRT. Heterogeneous catalysts are solid substances that accelerate chemical reactions at the surface, whereby the nanoscale and chemical features of the surface affect the activity, selectivity, and longevity of the catalyst. Nanoscale engineering of the catalyst offers tremendous potential for understanding more deeply the nature of the catalytic active surface site, and offers the opportunity to improve catalyst performance in environmental, energy, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, and more recently in homeland security. This proposal specifically describes a four-year research and teaching plan focused on tailoring the electronic and molecular structures of oxide nanoligands and their resulting impact on the catalytic performance of molecularly engineered supported metal oxide catalytic active sites.
This project will systematically examine the influence of the oxide substrate nanostructure in the critical 0.5-10 nm range for the catalytic active metal oxide-support interaction upon the resultant electronic structures, molecular structures and catalytic properties. A series of model supported catalysts will be molecularly engineered to allow for variation of the catalytic active sites and oxide nanoligands. The nanoligand dimension, electronic structure, molecular structure, composition (CeO2, TiO2, ZrO2, and their mixtures) and the catalytic active sites (acidic WOx, basic BaOx, redox VOx, and their mixtures) will be controlled to tune the catalytic activity/selectivity. These nano-supported catalysts will be synthesized in vivo within inert amorphous siliceous matrices to control the oxide nanoligand domain size and its distribution. These novel catalytic materials will be electronically, molecularly, and chemically characterized with the most advanced state-of-the-art molecular level in situ microscopic and spectroscopic techniques currently available, and under different reaction conditions, to determine their fundamental electronic/molecular structure-activity/selectivity relationships. These new insights will be employed to develop molecular level models that capture the influence of oxide nanoligand electronic and molecular characteristics on chemical properties of catalytic active sites anchored on such nanoligand substrates. The theoretical models will subsequently be used to guide the molecular design of advanced supported catalytic materials by tuning the electronic and molecular structures of catalytic active sites with the oxide nanoligands for several challenging catalytic applications of current industrial interest.
This fundamental information will allow the establishment of molecular level relationships between oxide nanoligand domain size and supported catalytic active site electronic and molecular structures for a range of important catalytic reactions. These molecular level relationships will lead to the development of new theoretical models for nano and conventional supported catalysts, as well as non-catalytic materials applications, of such multicomponent designed materials. The new insights will assist in the molecular design of 'next generation' supported catalysts where the oxide support nanoligand domain size is a critical factor in tailoring physical and chemical properties of supported catalytic active sites. The educational and outreach programs include undergraduate and graduate student training, high school teacher training, an annual site-rotating workshop, and state-of-the-art microscopy and spectroscopy schools. An industrial partner, BP, has agreed to pursue commercialization of promising advanced catalytic materials that will be discovered in the course of this research program.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
(Showing: 1 - 1 of 1).
Ross-Medgaarden, EI; Knowles, WV; Kim, T; Wong, MS; Zhou, W; Kiely, CJ; Wachs, IE.
"New insights into the nature of the acidic catalytic active sites present in ZrO2-supported tungsten oxide catalysts,"
JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS,
v.256,
2008,
p. 108
- 125.
(Showing: 1 - 1 of 1).
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
