Optimized nickel particles improve catalytic performance of hydrogenation reactions
Structure of Ni/MS-4.8 catalyst: (a) Schematic diagram of the synthesis procedure, (b) haadf-stem, (c)tem, (d, e) hrtem images, (f) mapping images. Credit: Zou Zidan
A research team led by Wang Guozhong of the Institute of Physical Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new method to accurately control the size of nickel (NI) particles in catalysts, improving the performance of hydrogenation reactions.
Findings published in Advanced Functional Materials provide new insights into catalyst design for industrial applications.
Catalysts play an important role in accelerating chemical reactions without being consumed, and the size of the metal particles within them is an important factor affecting performance.
Larger Ni particles contain more highly regulating sites that promote hydrogen dissociation, while smaller particles are dominated by poorly regulating sites that promote adsorption of the reactants. Accurate control of these particle sizes has long been a challenge in catalyst development.
In this study, the researchers synthesized mesoporous silica and used a strategy to adjust the molar ratio of ethylenediamine (EDA) to NI to create Ni/MS catalysts with various Ni particle sizes. Using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, we analyzed how these size variations affect the hydrogenation of vanillin, a key reaction in fine chemical production.
Adjusting particle size allows researchers to optimize catalyst performance and product selectivity, but finding precise control methods is difficult.
Using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, we analyzed how these size variations affect the hydrogenation of vanillin, a key reaction in fine chemical production. They found that hydrogenation of vanillin to 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (MMP) exhibits peak productivity in Ni/MS-4.8 catalysts with intermediate-sized particles.
They further demonstrated that while the poorly formulated Ni atoms promote adsorption of the reactants, the higher compounded Ni atoms promote efficient hydrogen dissociation, leading to improved catalytic performance.
This breakthrough provides new pathways for optimizing catalyst designs, paving the way for more efficient and selective hydrogenation reactions.
Details: Zidan Zou et al, size-controlled ni nanoparticles confined in amino-modified mesoporous silica for efficient hydrodeoxygenation of aromatic aldehydes from bio, highly functional materials (2025). doi:10.1002/adfm.202417584
Provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Quote: Optimized nickel particles are available on February 8, 2025 at https://phys.org/news/2025-02-optimized-nickel-calticles-caticlicles-catalyst-hydrogenation.html February 8, 2015 Improves catalytic performance of hydrogenation reactions recovered on day (February 7, 2025)
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from fair transactions for private research or research purposes, there is no part that is reproduced without written permission. Content is provided with information only.
