Principal Investigator: John Monnier/J. William Medlin
Institution: University of South Carolina Research Foundation/University of Colorado at Boulder
Analysis (rationale for decision):
A major goal of modern catalysis research is design and fabrication of "next generation" bimetallic catalysts that are selective toward reaction of a particular functional group. Bimetallic catalyst synthesis is typically carried out by either simultaneous co-impregnation of both metal salts onto the catalyst support or by successive steps of metal salt addition. For either of these preparative methods, it is virtually impossible to ensure formation of only bimetallic particles; rather, formation of separate metallic particles of both metals can and does occur. Thus, it is very difficult to characterize such catalytic systems, and even more difficult to correlate catalyst performance with bimetallic catalyst composition. One promising technique is electroless deposition (ED), which allows one metal component to be deposited in controlled quantities on the surface of a second metal. Because ED is a method that can be scaled up for the economical production of large amounts of catalyst, it shows great promise for catalytic applications in which selectivity can be tuned through adjustment of the surface composition. In this effort, ED will be employed as a tool for tailoring nanoscale, bimetallic catalysts that may be selective for hydrogenation of one of the two diverse functional groups of 1-epoxy-3-butene (EpB) and its isomer, crotonaldehyde (CrH). The catalyst evaluation results will be coupled with fundamental modeling and surface science studies to assess the utility of ED for preparation of selective bimetallic catalysts, and to take steps toward making rational improvements in catalyst design based on a fundamental understanding of bi-functional, reagent surface chemistry.
In terms of broader technical impact, the selective hydrogenation of EpB and CrH represents an important industrial target for production of a variety of fine chemical products. ED-prepared catalysts that facilitate higher selectivity can help to reduce process separations costs, over-use of feedstocks, and emissions to the environments. This collaborative effort will also allow graduate and undergraduate students to be involved in the integration of diverse research approaches within the catalysis community, ranging from surface science experiments to computational chemistry to selectivity probes of realistic catalysts. The broad experience gained by the students who work on this project, as well as the interactions with multiple principal investigators at different institutions, will allow those students to recognize the important contributions available from these different types of catalysis studies.
