Synthesis and Characterization of Ag/Al2O3 Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of 1-Octyne and the Preferential Hydrogenation of 1-Octyne vs 1-Octene.

Catalysts featuring 2, 5, and 10 wt % silver supported on alumina were prepared by the deposition precipitation method and activated under hydrogen. All catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), backscattered electron scanning electron microscopy (BSE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), hydrogen-temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), H2-chemisorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and isopropylamine (IPA) TPD and evaluated in a continuous plug flow fixed-bed reactor. Metal nanoparticles with average sizes of 4.5, 11.5, and 21.1 nm were identified by HR-TEM for the 2, 5, and 10 wt % Ag/Al2O3 catalysts, respectively. A conversion of 99% was observed for 1-octyne over particles between 10 and 15 nm in size, with stable operation up to 24 h (decreasing thereafter) at a temperature of 140 °C and a pressure of 30 bar in the competitive hydrogenation reaction. No conversion of 1-octene was noted in competitive reactions (mixed 1-octyne and 1-octene feed) but rather a gain of 1-octene throughout the 72 h time-on-stream. The performance of all catalysts was influenced by both the metal and support, where the latter impacted the overall acidity of the catalysts, thus affecting their long-term stability.

Faraday Discussions meeting Catalysis for Fuels.

Welcome to Africa was the motto when after more than 100 years the flag ship conference series of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Faraday Discussions was hosted for the first time on the African Continent. Under the fitting topic 'Catalysis for Fuels' over 120 delegates followed the invitation by the conference chair Prof. Graham Hutchings FRS (Cardiff Catalysis Institute), his organizing committee and the co-organizing DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Catalysis c*change (). In the presentations of 21 invited speakers and 59 posters, cutting edge research in the field of catalysis for fuels, designing new catalysts for synthetic fuels, hydrocarbon conversion in the production of synthetic fuels and novel photocatalysis was presented over the two-day meeting. The scene was set by the opening lecture of Prof. Enrique Iglesias (UC Berkeley) and wrapped-up with the concluding remarks by Philip Gibson (SASOL).