A kinetic study on the conversion of cis-2-butene with deuterium on a Pd/Fe3O4 model catalyst.

The conversion of cis-2-butene with deuterium over a well-defined Pd/Fe(3)O(4) model catalyst was studied by isothermal pulsed molecular beam (MB) experiments under ultra high vacuum conditions. This study focuses on the processes related to dissociative hydrogen adsorption and diffusion into the subsurface of Pd nanoparticles and their influence on the activity and selectivity toward competing cis-trans isomerization and hydrogenation pathways. The reactivity was studied both under steady state conditions and in the transient regime, in which the reaction takes place on a D-saturated catalyst, over a large range of reactant pressures and reaction temperatures. We show that large olefin coverages negatively affect the abundance of D species, as indicated by a reduction of both reaction rates under steady state conditions as compared to the transient reactivity on the catalyst pre-saturated with D(2). Limitations in D availability during the steady state lead to a very weak dependence of both reaction rates on the olefin pressure. In contrast, when the surface is initially saturated with D, the transient reaction rates of both pathways exhibit positive kinetic orders on the butene pressure. Cis-trans isomerization and hydrogenation show kinetic orders of +0.7 and +1.0 on the D(2) pressure, respectively. Increasing availability of D noticeably shifts the selectivity toward hydrogenation. These observations together with the analysis of the transient reaction behavior suggest that the activity and selectivity of the catalyst is strongly controlled by its ability to build up and maintain a sufficiently high concentration of D species under reaction conditions. The temperature dependence of the reaction rates indicates that higher activation energies are required for the hydrogenation pathway than for the cis-trans isomerization pathway, implying that different rate limiting steps are involved in the competing reactions.

Micromechanics and ultrastructure of pyrolysed softwood cell walls.

Pyrolytic conversion causes severe changes in the microstructure of the wood cell wall. Pine wood pyrolysed up to 325 °C was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation measurements to monitor changes in structure and mechanical properties. Latewood cell walls were tested in the axial, radial and tangential directions at different temperatures of pyrolysis. A strong anisotropy of elastic properties in the native cell wall was found. Loss of the hierarchical structure of the cell wall due to pyrolysis resulted in elastic isotropy at 300 °C. The development of the mechanical properties with increasing temperature can be explained by alterations in the structure and it was found that the elastic properties were clearly related to length and orientation of the microfibrils.

Kinetics of the reaction C2H5 + HO2 by time-resolved mass spectrometry.

The overall rate constant for the radical-radical reaction C2H5 + HO2 --> products has been determined at room temperature by means of time-resolved mass spectrometry using a laser photolysis/flow reactor combination. Excimer laser photolysis of gas mixtures containing ethane, hydrogen peroxide, and oxalyl chloride was employed to generate controlled concentrations of C2H5 and HO2 radicals by the fast H abstraction reactions of the primary radicals Cl and OH with C2H6 and H2O2, respectively. By careful adjustments of the radical precursor concentrations, the title reaction could be measured under almost pseudo-first-order conditions with the concentration of HO2 in large excess over that of C2H5. From detailed numerical simulations of the measured concentration-time profiles of C2H5 and HO2, the overall rate constant for the reaction was found to be k1(293 K) = (3.1 +/- 1.0) x 10(13) cm3 mol(-1) s(-1). C2H5O could be confirmed as a direct reaction product.