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Ceria and ceria-zirconia nanomaterials of different origin were studied in order to elucidate the role of their structural and textural characteristics in controlling the performance towards CO2 capture. Two commercial cerias and two home-prepared samples, CeO2 and CeO2-ZrO2 (75% CeO2) mixed oxide, were investigated. The samples were characterized by a number of analytical techniques including XRD, TEM, N2-adsorption, XPS, H2-TPR, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. Static and dynamic CO2 adsorption experiments were applied to assess the CO2 capture performance. The type of surface species formed and their thermal stability were evaluated by in situ FTIR spectroscopy and CO2-TPD analysis. The two commercial ceria samples possessed similar structural and textural characteristics, formed the same types of carbonate-like surface species upon CO2 adsorption and, consequently, demonstrated almost identical CO2 capture performance under both static and dynamic conditions. The thermal stability of the adsorbed species increased in the order bidentate (B) carbonates, hydrogen carbonates (HC) and tridentate carbonates (T-III, T-II, T-I). Reduction of CeO2 increased the relative amount of the most strongly bonded T-I tridentate carbonates. Preadsorbed water led to hydroxylation and enhanced formation of hydrogen carbonates. Although the synthesized CeO2 sample had a higher surface area (by 30%) it showed a disadvantageous long mass transfer zone in the CO2-adsorption breakthrough curves. Because of its complex pore structure, this sample probably experiences severe intraparticle CO2 diffusion resistance. Having the same surface area as the synthesized CeO2, the mixed CeO2-ZrO2 oxide exhibited the highest CO2 capture capacity of 136 µmol g-1 under dynamic conditions. This was related to the highest concentration of CO2 adsorption sites (including defects) on this sample. The CeO2-ZrO2 system showed the lowest sensitivity to the presence of water vapor in the gas stream due to the lack of dissociative water adsorption on this material.
RESUMO
Hydrogen dissociation and spillover on supported metal nanoparticles have received renewed interest because these chemical processes are closely related to applications in heterogeneous catalysis and hydrogen storage. In heterogeneous catalysis, spillover can control the reaction rate and selectivity of a wide range of reactions, e.g. hydrogenation, synthesis of methanol and hydroisomerization. In this work, we combine three spectroscopic approaches, i.e. the FT-IR spectroscopy of donated electrons, co-adsorbed CO and H/D exchange, to obtain detailed information on the dynamics of hydrogen interaction with a model 1.3% Rh/TiO2 catalyst. Our spectroscopic results helped us to build a physical picture of the processes occurring during the H-spillover on Rh/TiO2. It was found that molecular H2 dissociates on nanocrystalline Rh; H atoms spillover onto the titania thus protonating the semiconductor, while donating electrons to shallow trap (ST) states and the conduction band (CB) of TiO2. These donated electrons are observed by their specific IR features. By simultaneously monitoring the changes in the vibrational modes of CO, and, the infrared absorbance due to transitions involving CB and ST electrons, we found that both CO-reduced and partially re-oxidized Rh nanocrystallites promote the H-spillover and thus the n-doping of TiO2 materials. Upon evacuation, the process reverses: hydrogen atoms spillover back to Rh nanoparticles where they recombine to form H2 molecules that desorb from the surface. These new mechanistic insights into the process of H2 dissociation and spillover on the powder Rh/TiO2 catalyst call for further model surface science studies with model metal nanoparticle-single crystal substrate systems, in which a detailed picture of energetics and spatial distribution of hydrogen and injected electrons could be obtained.
RESUMO
The reduction of a 1.3% Rh/TiO2 sample with carbon monoxide leads to the formation of uniform Rh nanoparticles with a mean diameter of dp ≈ 2.2 nm. Adsorption of CO on the reduced Rh/TiO2 produces linear and bridged carbonyls bound to metallic Rh(0) sites and only a few geminal dicarbonyls of Rh(I). The ν(CO) of linear Rh(0)-CO complexes is strongly coverage dependent: it is observed at 2078 cm(-1) at full coverage and at ca. 2025 cm(-1) at approximated zero coverage. At low coverage, this shift is mainly caused by a dipole-dipole interaction between the adsorbed CO molecules while at high coverage, the chemical shift also becomes important. Hydrogen hardly affects the CO adlayer at high CO coverages. However, on a partially CO-covered surface (θCO ≈ 0.5), the adsorption of H2 at increasing pressure leads to a gradual shift in the band of linear Rh(0)-CO from 2041 to 2062 cm(-1). Subsequent evacuation almost restores the original spectrum, demonstrating the reversibility of the hydrogen effect. Through the use of (12)CO + (13)CO isotopic mixtures, it is established that the addition of hydrogen to the CO-Rh/TiO2 system leads to an increase in the dynamic interaction between the adsorbed CO molecules. This evidences an increase in the density of the adsorbed CO molecules and indicates segregation of the CO and hydrogen adlayers. When CO is adsorbed on a hydrogen-precovered surface, the carbonyl band maximum is practically coverage independent and is observed at 2175-2173 cm(-1). These results are explained by a model according to which CO successively occupies different rhodium nanoparticles.
RESUMO
Ultraviolet light-induced electron-hole pair excitations in anatase TiO(2) powders were studied by a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy measurements. During continuous UV irradiation in the mW.cm(-2) range, photogenerated electrons are either trapped at localized sites, giving paramagnetic Ti(3+) centers, or remain in the conduction band as EPR silent species which may be observed by their IR absorption. Using low temperatures (90 K) to reduce the rate of the electron-hole recombination processes, trapped electrons and conduction band electrons exhibit lifetimes of hours. The EPR-detected holes produced by photoexcitation are O(-) species, produced from lattice O(2-) ions. It is found that under high vacuum conditions, the major fraction of photoexcited electrons remains in the conduction band. At 298 K, all stable hole and electron states are lost from TiO(2). Defect sites produced by oxygen removal during annealing of anatase TiO(2) are found to produce a Ti(3+) EPR spectrum identical to that of trapped electrons, which originate from photoexcitation of oxidized TiO(2). Efficient electron scavenging by adsorbed O(2) at 140 K is found to produce two long-lived O(2)(-) surface species associated with different cation surface sites. Reduced TiO(2), produced by annealing in vacuum, has been shown to be less efficient in hole trapping than oxidized TiO(2).
RESUMO
The photooxidation of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (2-CEES), a simulant for mustard gas, was studied using transmission IR spectroscopy on a mixed-oxide TiO2-SiO2 photocatalyst. Ultraviolet irradiation in the photon energy range from 2.1 to 5 eV was employed at a catalyst temperature of 200 K. Rapid photooxidation was observed by the loss of infrared intensity in the v(CHx) stretching region, and concomitant infrared features of adsorbed oxidation products were observed to develop. The oxidation products, captured on the photocatalyst at 200 K, were found to block 2-CEES readsorption. Upon heating the poisoned photocatalyst to about 300 K, infrared measurements indicate that the adsorbed CO2 oxidation product was desorbed. The capability for full readsorption of 2-CEES was achieved upon heating the poisoned photocatalyst to 397 K, and continued rapid photooxidation of the 2-CEES was then possible at about 1/3 the rate found for the fresh catalyst. Thus thermal treatment at 397 K of oxidation-product-poisoned TiO2-SiO2 material is able to partially restore the TiO2-SiO2 photooxidation activity.
