Abstract Jonathan Phillips This study tests the hypothesis that catalysts consisting of two compositionally distinct particle surfaces will be superior to simpler catalysts with a single active surface for certain reactions and specifically for hydroisomerization. The design paradigm calls for a small amount of a noble metal (palladium, platinum, rhodium, or iridium) that can dissociate hydrogen, which then spills over to an alloy surface with high selectivity for the desired product; these alloys consist of a base metal (iron or cobalt) and a rare earth (cerium, praseodynium, or lanthanum). Other studies suggest that carbon supports may favor formation of surfaces with the desired structures; supports studied in this work include both high surface-area and low-surface area carbon, graphite, alumina, and silica. Preliminary studies using iron-cerium-palladium on carbon show both high activity and high selectivity for hydroisomerization of 1-butene. In this work partial hydrogenation of butadiene is used as an additional test reaction. Surface and bulk structures of the particles are probed using X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy, microcalorimetry, and transmission electron microscopy. The principal being established in this work should apply to a wide range of industrial processes. The specific systems under study will permit immediate application to the production of "reformulated" gasoline required by the Clean Air Act and should eliminate the cost differential associated with compliance. ***
