Liquid metals for boosting stability of zeolite catalysts in the conversion of methanol to hydrocarbons.

Methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) process has been considered one of the most practical approaches for producing value-added products from methanol. However, the commonly used zeolite catalysts suffer from rapid deactivation due to coke deposition and require regular regeneration treatments. We demonstrate that low-melting-point metals, such as Ga, can effectively promote more stable methanol conversion in the MTH process by slowing coke deposition and facilitating the desorption of carbonaceous species from the zeolite. The ZSM-5 zeolite physically mixed with liquid gallium exhibited an enhanced lifetime in the MTH reaction, which increased by a factor of up to ~14 as compared to the parent ZSM-5. These results suggest an alternative route to the design and preparation of deactivation-resistant zeolite catalysts.

Structure of the water-splitting photocatalyst oxysulfide α-LaOInS2 and ab initio prediction of new polymorphs.

We unveil the structure and investigate the visible light water-splitting of the photocatalyst α-LaOInS2, the second polymorph in this composition. This remarkable oxysulfide exhibits rare mixed anion InS5O octahedra leading to both O-2p and S-3p hybridized with indium states in the vicinity of the Fermi level. Ab initio structure prediction shows the stability of such heteroleptic environments and points to other hypothetical polymorphs.