Silicon microfabricated reactor for operando XAS/DRIFTS studies of heterogeneous catalytic reactions

Venezia, B. et al. (2020) Silicon microfabricated reactor for operando XAS/DRIFTS studies of heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Catalysis Science and Technology, 10(23), pp. 7842-7856. (doi: 10.1039/D0CY01608J)

Abstract

Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and mass spectrometry (MS) provide complementary information on the catalyst structure, surface reaction mechanisms and activity relationships. The powerful combination of the techniques has been the driving force to design and engineer suitable spectroscopic operando reactors that can mitigate limitations inherent to conventional reaction cells and facilitate experiments under kinetic regimes. Microreactors have recently emerged as effective spectroscopic operando cells due to their plug-flow type operation with no dead volume and negligible mass and heat transfer resistances. Here we present a novel microfabricated reactor that can be used for both operando XAS and DRIFTS studies. The reactor has a glass–silicon–glass sandwich-like structure with a reaction channel (3000 μm × 600 μm; width × depth) packed with a catalyst bed (ca. 25 mg) and placed sideways to the X-ray beam, while the infrared beam illuminates the catalyst bed from the top. The outlet of the reactor is connected to MS for continuous monitoring of the reactor effluent. The feasibility of the microreactor is demonstrated by conducting two reactions: i) combustion of methane over 2 wt% Pd/Al2O3 studied by operando XAS at the Pd K-edge and ii) CO oxidation over 1 wt% Pt/Al2O3 catalyst studied by operando DRIFTS. The former shows that palladium is in an oxidised state at all studied temperatures, 250, 300, 350, 400 °C and the latter shows the presence of linearly adsorbed CO on the platinum surface. Furthermore, temperature-resolved reduction of palladium catalyst with methane and CO oxidation over platinum catalyst are also studied. Based on these results, the catalyst structure and surface reaction dynamics are discussed, which demonstrate not only the applicability and versatility of the microreactor for combined operando XAS and DRIFTS studies, but also illustrate the unique advantages of the microreactor for high space velocity and transient response experiments.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gibson, Dr Emma
• Authors: Venezia, B., Cao, E., Matam, S. K., Waldron, C., Cibin, G., Gibson, E. K., Golunski, S., Wells, P. P., Silverwood, I., Catlow, C. R. A., Sankar, G., and Gavriilidis, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Catalysis Science and Technology
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• ISSN: 2044-4753
• ISSN (Online): 2044-4761
• Published Online: 16 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry
• First Published: First published in Catalysis Science and Technology 10(23): 7842-7856
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
169321		Catalytic HDO : Queen's University of Belfast ref R1188CCE	Samuel Jackson	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/K014706/1	Chemistry