Exploring the Dehydrogenation Reaction Pathway of Perhydro-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons over the Pt/Al2O3 Catalyst as Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers by In Situ DRIFT.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been paid more attention as liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) because of their high hydrogen storage, easy transportation, low price, and other advantages. Dehydrogenation is the key point of the PAH hydrogen storage. However, the dehydrogenation reaction rate of perhydro-PAHs is slow, and their pathway is still not clear. To clarify the PAH dehydrogenation pathway, three kinds of perhydro-PAHs containing six-membered rings (methylcyclohexane, perhydro-diphenylmethane, and perhydro-dibenzyltoluene) are selected, and their dehydrogenation processes over the Pt/Al2O3 catalyst are carried out by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT). It was found that the dehydrogenation in the six-membered ring started in the para position of the -CH3 group, and then, the six-membered ring was transformed into a benzene ring gradually. Between the six-membered rings, dehydrogenation started from the side ring, which has fewer groups.

Bimetallic Rh-Fe catalysts for N2O decomposition: effects of surface structures on catalytic activity.

Well-homogenized RhFe alloy nanoparticles and core-shell structured Fe@Rh nanoparticles were highly dispersed on SBA-15 and then applied to N2O catalytic conversion. Compared to RhFe/SBA-15, Fe@Rh/SBA-15 showed a higher catalytic activity for N2O decomposition. This is because the Rh layers covering the Fe core were able to protect against oxidization and so Fe@Rh/SBA-15 was prevented from deactivating. DFT calculations were performed to study the reaction mechanism of N2O decomposition. The rate-determining step, which was found to be the formation of O2 from adsorbed oxygen atoms on the surfaces of RhFe and Fe@Rh, revealed that O atoms prefer to be adsorbed on exposed Fe atoms on the surface of RhFe rather than that of Fe@Rh. The calculation results indicate that the exposed Fe atoms tend to be oxidized on the surface of RhFe, resulting in the deactivation of RhFe/SBA-15 during the experiment.

A novel Ni-WC/AC catalyst with enhanced electroactivity for glucose oxidation.

WC-doped Ni over an active carbon catalyst (Ni-WC/AC), prepared by incipient wetness impregnation, is proposed as an anode for the amplified electrochemical oxidation of glucose in 0.1 M KOH solution. Cyclic voltammetry and morphology characterizations were used to explore these electrocatalysts. It was found that Ni-WC/AC catalysts were nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm and the 20%wtNi-20%wtWC/AC catalyst showed superior electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation. The extraordinary activity obtained at the 20%wtNi-20%wtWC/AC modified glass carbon electrode (GCE) is attributed to the synergistic effect between Ni and WC toward glucose electroxidation.

Synergistic Effect of TMSPi and FEC in Regulating the Electrode/Electrolyte Interfaces in Nickel-Rich Lithium Metal Batteries.

Nickel-rich LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) with respect to Li metal can enhance the energy density of lithium batteries effectively. However, the unstable Li deposition, together with the dissolution and migration of transition metal (TM) ions toward the anode deteriorate the cycle performance of NCM811||Li battery, especially when commercial carbonate electrolyte is used. Herein, tris(trimethylsilyl)phosphite (TMSPi) and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) are used to construct a dual-additive electrolyte, by which both electrodes can be protected. It is found that TMSPi can be preferentially adsorbed on the cathode surface through its strong coordination with Ni4+, playing the role as a HF scavenger and suppressing TM ions dissolution, as well as mitigating the structural degradation of the cathode effectively. When it comes to the lithium anode, the presence of TMSPi may lead to side reactions with Li metal, accompanied by fast dendrite growth. The introduction of FEC could facilitate the formation of stable electrode/electrolyte interfaces on both sides. Particularly, reduce the direct contact between TMSPi and Li anode, thus ameliorate the incompatibility issue. Consequently, the NCM811||Li cell with dual-additive demonstrates excellent capacity retention of 81.2% after 500 cycles at 1 C rate. As a sharp contrast, it only retains 13.9% in the one with blank electrolyte. The findings of this work provide a new insight into enhancing the cycle performance of NCM811||Li system via the synergistic effect between additives.

Kinetics of liquid phase catalytic hydrogenation of dicyclopentadiene over Pd/C catalyst.

To investigate the kinetics behaviors of dicyclopentadiene hydrogenation, a series of experiments were performed at different temperatures (323-353 K) under varying hydrogen pressure (0.5-1.5 MPa) with a range of Pd/C catalyst loading (0.25-1.00 wt %) using ethanol as solvent in a batch reactor. The time dependent concentration variations for each component were traced under the conditions of removing both the internal and external diffusion effects. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism was proposed with the consideration of the noncompetitive adsorption between the organic species with hydrogen, and the surface reaction was the rate-determining step. The kinetic equations for the sequence reaction were derived on the basis of the analysis of mechanisms, and the model parameters were determined by fitting the experimental data in differential temperature using the method of Runge-Kutta. The reaction activation energies for the first and second steps are 3.19 and 31.69 kJ x mol(-1), respectively, and the reliability of the model was verified by these experimental results to change hydrogen pressure, reactant concentration and catalyst loading. The simulation results agreed well with the experimental data.