In-Situ Drifts Studies on CuNi Catalyst for Ethanol Hydrogen Production

In-situ DRIFTS Studies on CuNi Catalyst for Ethanol Hydrogen Production

Anand Kumar

Department of Chemical Engineering, Qatar University, P O Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

 

 

Ethanol dehydrogenation mechanism was investigated over catalysts containing Cu and Ni metals prepared by solution combustion synthesis. In situ DRIFTS studies were conducted on individual metals (Cu and Ni) as well as on CuNi alloy to understand the metal-metal interaction in bimetallic systems and their implications on reaction pathway. The catalyst synthesis parameters (such as fuel to oxidizer ratio in combustion synthesis and combustion temperature etc.) were monitored and correlated with the synthesized materials properties. The amount of fuel content in the combustion solution was found to greatly affect the phase and microstructure of the synthesized catalysts. Along with the microstructure, surface phase distribution was also studied for various fuel to oxidizer ratio using XPS and changes on surface composition were monitored after catalyst activation (reduction) and after the ethanol dehydrogenation reaction. A change in reaction pathway was clearly observed over Cu and Ni catalysts. Cu mainly favors synthesis of acetaldehyde and acetate whereas Ni and CuNi both showed more tendencies towards methane and carbon monoxide formation.

 

 

Figure 1: Postulated ethanol dehydrogenation reaction pathways over Cu and Ni based catalysts

 

Research Interests: Heterogeneous catalysis, combustion synthesis, microfluidic synthesis, nanomaterials, ethanol hydrogen production, methane reforming, carbon dioxide conversion, fuel cell reactions, solar fuels, electro-catalysis.

Teaching Interests: Chemical Reaction Engineering, Transport Phenomena, Chemical Process Control, Heterogeneous Catalysis, Mass Transfer, Heat Transfer, Advanced Engineering Mathematics, Numerical Methods, Natural Gas Processing, Engineering Economics