Promising new technologies for biomass conversion into fuels and chemical feedstocks rely on production of bio-oils, which need to be upgraded in order to remove oxygen from oxygen-containing organic molecules such as organic acids and phenols. A high oxygen concentration makes bio-oils acidic and corrosive, unstable during storage, and less energetically valuable per unit weight than petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Although there are effective commercializable processes for the production of bio-oils, there are no efficient catalytic commercializable technologies for their upgrading. Current research and development technologies have started with traditional petroleum refining catalysts, which are not optimized for biomass processing, and as a result, are not very effective. New catalytic upgrading technologies are, therefore, urgently needed for the successful development of sustainable energy resources. Parallels may be sought with petroleum refining processes, where catalyst advances, such as using bimetallic or multimetallic catalysts, have led to very efficient delivery of low contaminant fuels. Development of such new catalytic technologies for bio-oils, however, is severely hindered by a lack of fundamental understanding of how oxygen-containing hydrocarbons derived from biomass interact with promising bimetallic catalysts.
The National Science Foundation Catalysis & Biocatalysis Program will make an award to fund a collaborative effort between Professors Simon Podkolzin and Adeniyi Lawal of Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, and Professor Bruce Koel of Princeton University to advance the molecular-level understanding of how oxygen-containing molecules from bio-oils adsorb and react on catalytic bimetallic nanoparticles. The obtained fundamentals will be used to identify: (a) preferred chemistries for bio-oil upgrading, (b) improved catalyst formulations, and (c) optimized reaction conditions. The program will synergistically combine single-crystal surface science experiments, characterization and testing of supported metal catalysts, and quantum-chemical calculations with vibrational analyses for interpretation of experimental vibrational spectra and transition state calculations for reaction mechanisms studies. Recognizing that many studies are being funded in this area, research will be conducted in close cooperation with Department of Energy biomass conversion programs at the Institute for Integrated Catalysis operating within the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This should result in reduced duplication of efforts and synergy in moving to successful achievement of biomass conversion efforts.
This collaborative project will establish one basis for the transformative development of new efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for the production of renewable energy and chemical industry feedstocks. The fundamental and applied knowledge from this research will advance the rational design of catalytic nanomaterials and, more widely, will benefit highly diverse and rapidly developing technologies that vitally rely on the interaction between oxygen-containing organic molecules and metal nanoparticles, ranging from sensors to medical diagnostics, and from drug delivery to fuel cells. The researchers will be engaged in several undergraduate and K-12 educational outreach programs. For example, the investigators will develop teaching modules on metal nanoparticles for green chemistry and sustainability which they will use in a summer camp for more than 300 high school students from across the U.S.
