(665f) Designing Atomically Dispersed Supported Heterogeneous Rh Catalysts for Selective Reduction Reactions | AIChE

(665f) Designing Atomically Dispersed Supported Heterogeneous Rh Catalysts for Selective Reduction Reactions

Authors 

Matsubu, J. C. - Presenter, University of California, Riverside
Christopher, P. - Presenter, University of California, Riverside

Homogeneous Rh catalysts are important in a wide range of reductive and hydrogenation processes in industry, including most notably hydroformylation. In many of these processes the large scale and high volatility of reactants dictates that it would be economically beneficial to develop gas-phase heterogeneous catalytic processes that replace homogeneous processes.  However, supported Rh nanoparticles with contiguous Rh active sites typically have high surface coverage of atomic H under H2 environments, resulting in high reactivity for unselective total hydrogenation reactions. To minimize the hydrogenation reactivity of Rh active sites allowing for selective reduction reactions, supported Rh active sites must be spatially isolated from other Rh atoms to reduce the surface H coverage. In this talk we will discuss the design and synthesis of atomically dispersed Rh active sites on various oxides and their unique reactivity in selective reduction processes. Specific attention will be given to the role of the oxide in stabilizing these sites, participation of surface hydroxyl groups on the oxide in the reduction processes at Rh atoms and stability of the atomically dispersed Rh species.