Understanding Structure-Property Relationships of MoO3-Promoted Rh Catalysts for Syngas Conversion to Alcohols.

Rh-based catalysts have shown promise for the direct conversion of syngas to higher oxygenates. Although improvements in higher oxygenate yield have been achieved by combining Rh with metal oxide promoters, details of the structure of the promoted catalyst and the role of the promoter in enhancing catalytic performance are not well understood. In this work, we show that MoO3-promoted Rh nanoparticles form a novel catalyst structure in which Mo substitutes into the Rh surface, leading to both a 66-fold increase in turnover frequency and an enhancement in oxygenate yield. By applying a combination of atomically controlled synthesis, in situ characterization, and theoretical calculations, we gain an understanding of the promoter-Rh interactions that govern catalytic performance for MoO3-promoted Rh. We use atomic layer deposition to modify Rh nanoparticles with monolayer-precise amounts of MoO3, with a high degree of control over the structure of the catalyst. Through in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we find that the atomic structure of the catalytic surface under reaction conditions consists of Mo-OH species substituted into the surface of the Rh nanoparticles. Using density functional theory calculations, we identify two roles of MoO3: first, the presence of Mo-OH in the catalyst surface enhances CO dissociation and also stabilizes a methanol synthesis pathway not present in the unpromoted catalyst; and second, hydrogen spillover from Mo-OH sites to adsorbed species on the Rh surface enhances hydrogenation rates of reaction intermediates.

Electrochemical Dealloying of PdCu3 Nanoparticles to Achieve Pt-like Activity for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Manipulating the d-band center of the metal surface and hence optimizing the free energy of hydrogen adsorption (ΔGH ) close to the optimal adsorption energy (ΔGH =0) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), is an efficient strategy to enhance the activity for HER. Herein, we report a oleylamine-mediated (acting as the solvent, stabilizer, and reducing agent) strategy to synthesize intermetallic PdCu3 nanoparticles (NPs) without using any external reducing agent. Upon electrochemical cycling, PdCu3 transforms into Pd-rich PdCu (ΔGH =0.05 eV), exhibiting remarkably enhanced activity (with a current density of 25 mA cm-2 at ∼69 mV overpotential) as an alternative to Pt for HER. The first-principle calculation suggests that formation of low coordination number Pd active sites alters the d-band center and hence optimal adsorption of hydrogen, leading to enhanced activity. This finding may provide guidelines towards the design and development of Pt-free highly active and robust electrocatalysts.

Improved catalytic activity of rhodium monolayer modified nickel (110) surface for the methane dehydrogenation reaction: a first-principles study.

The catalytic activity of pure Ni (110) and single Rh layer deposited Ni (110) surface for the complete dehydrogenation of methane is theoretically investigated by means of gradient-corrected periodic density functional theory. A detailed kinetic study, based on the analysis of the optimal reaction pathway for the transformation of CH4 to C and H through four elementary steps (CH4 → CH3 + H; CH3 → CH2 + H; CH2 → CH + H; CH → C + H) is presented for pure Ni (110) and Rh/Ni (110) surfaces and compared with pure Rh (110) surface. Through systematic examination of adsorbed geometries and transition states, we show that single layer deposition of Rh on Ni (110) surface has a striking influence on lowering the activation energy barrier of the dehydrogenation reaction. Moreover, it is found that a pure Ni (110) surface has a tendency for carbon deposition on the catalytic surface during the methane dissociation reaction which decreases the stability of the catalyst. However, the deposition of carbon is largely suppressed by the addition of a Rh overlayer on the pure Ni (110) surface. The physical origin of stronger chemisorption of carbon on Ni (110) relative to Rh/Ni (110) has been elucidated by getting insight into the electronic structures and d-band model of the catalytic surfaces. Considering the balance in both the catalytic activity as well as the catalyst stability, we propose that the Rh/Ni (110) surface possesses much improved catalytic property compared to pure Ni (110) and pure Rh (110) surfaces.

Methane formation from the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide on Ni(110) surface--a density functional theoretical study.

The complete hydrogenation mechanisms of CO2 are explored on Ni(110) surface catalyst using density functional theory. We have studied the possible hydrogenation mechanism to form product methane from the stable adsorption-co-adsorption intermediates of CO2 and H2 on Ni(110) surface. Our computations clearly elucidate that the mechanism for the formation of methyl, methoxy and methane moieties from carbon dioxide on the nickel catalyst. Moreover, our studies clearly show that the methane formation via hydroxyl carbonyl intermediate requires a lower energy barrier than via carbon monoxide and formate intermediates on the Ni(110) surface.