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Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications of Nanomaterials

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A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Catalytic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2022) | Viewed by 11087

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria Victoria Martínez Huerta

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Guest Editor

Institute of Catalisis and Petrochemistry, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
Interests: electrocatalysts; energy; hydrogen; fuel cells; electrolyzers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. María Olga Guerrero-Pérez

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Guest Editor

Departamento de Ingenierı́a Quı́mica, Universidad de Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain
Interests: carbon materials; mixed oxides; nanotechnology; heterogeneous catalysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The unusual size-/surface-dependent properties of nanomaterials open up new frontiers in materials science, allowing to design advanced catalysts and electrocatalysts. Several strategies are currently considered to improve catalytic activity, such as support change, morphology, size control or alloy catalysts, which modify chemical binding of reactive intermediates on the catalyst surface. Chemical functionality can also alter electronic structures to optimize the coordination environment of the active centers in the catalysts and improve the intermediate adsorption/desorption on the interface. The main focus of this Special Issue is to cover recent progress and trends in designing, synthesizing, characterizing, and evaluating advanced nanomaterials to generate catalysts and electrocatalysts for sustainable applications.

Dr. Maria Victoria Martínez Huerta
Dr. María Olga Guerrero-Pérez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Nanomaterials
Nanocatalysts
Nanostructured electrocatalysts
Nanotecnology

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 4267 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Boosting the Electrocatalytic Activity of Nickel-Iron Layered Double Hydroxide for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction byTerephthalic Acid

by Guoqi Li, Jihao Zhang, Lin Li, Chunze Yuan and Tsu-Chien Weng

Catalysts 2022, 12(3), 258; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12030258 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2492

Abstract

The development of a new type of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst to reduce the energy loss in the process of water electrolysis is of great significance to the realization of the industrialization of hydrogen energy storage. Herein, we report the catalysts of NiFe double-layer hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) mixed with different equivalent terephthalic acid (TPA), synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The catalyst synthesized with the use of the precursor solution containing one equivalent of TPA shows the best performance with the current density of 2 mA cm⁻² at an overpotential of 270 mV, the Tafel slope of 40 mV dec⁻¹, and excellent stable electrocatalytic performance for OER. These catalysts were characterized in a variety of methods. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), and Raman spectrum proved the presence of TPA in the catalysts. The lamellar structure and the uniform distribution of Ni and Fe in the catalysts were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). In X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of NiFe-LDH with and without TPA, the changes in the peak positions of Ni and Fe spectra indicate strong electronic interactions between TPA and Ni and Fe atoms. These results suggest that a certain amount of TPA can boost catalytic activity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications of Nanomaterials)

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11 pages, 2262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transforming Waste Clamshell into Highly Selective Nanostructured Catalysts for Solvent Free Liquid Phase Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol

by Nafiseh Sadat Saffari, Behzad Aghabarari, Masoumeh Javaheri, Ali Khanlarkhani and Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta

Catalysts 2022, 12(2), 155; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12020155 - 27 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2210

Abstract

High yield production of benzaldehyde in the solvent-free oxidation of benzyl alcohol by using green catalysts is highly desirable. In this work, calcium hydroxide derived from waste clamshell was used as low-cost and environmentally friendly catalyst support (CaSUP) for Pd and V nanoparticles. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were analyzed using X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) technique, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde was studied in a liquid phase reaction by using H₂O₂ as an oxidizing agent. The effects of catalyst loading, the molar ratio of hydrogen peroxide to benzyl alcohol, temperature and reaction duration were investigated. In the optimized conditions, Pd nanoparticles supported on clamshell-derived supports displayed excellent catalytic conversion (88%) and selectivity to benzaldehyde (89%). Furthermore, the catalyst can be effectively reused without a significant loss in its activity and selectivity. The high yield and stability can be related to the structural and basic properties of the catalyst. These results provide important insights into the benzyl alcohol oxidation process for industrial applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications of Nanomaterials)

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11 pages, 1659 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of 3-(trihydroxysilyl)-1-propanesulfonic Acid Treatment on the State of Vanadium Incorporated on SBA-15 Matrix

by Ardian Nurwita, Piotr Decyk, Maria Ziolek and Maciej Trejda

Catalysts 2021, 11(3), 397; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal11030397 - 21 Mar 2021

Viewed by 2000

Abstract

Bifunctional catalysts—e.g., those with acidic and redox sites—are of particular importance, especially in the cascade processes, including the one-pot transformation of glycerol to acrylic acid. In this study, we explore one aspect of the preparation of a vanadium-containing catalyst, which can be further modified with 3-(trihydroxysilyl)-1-propanesulfonic acid (TPS). The state of vanadium species loaded on mesoporous ordered silica of SBA-15 type was investigated before and after treatment with TPS, which can also be applied for the generation of acidic centers. Two vanadium sources, i.e., ammonium metavanadate and vanadium(IV) oxide sulfate, were applied to generate redox sites on SBA-15. The structure of materials obtained was analyzed using N₂ adsorption/desorption and XRD measurements. For the estimation of the amount of vanadium and characterization of its state, the following techniques were applied: ICP, UV-Vis, XPS, ESR and FTIR combined with pyridine adsorption. The treatment of vanadium containing SBA-15 with TPS was found to lead to the oxidation of V⁴⁺ to V⁵⁺ and the partial removal of vanadium species, leading to a decrease in the number of penta-coordinated vanadium species. These features should be taken into account in the design of bifunctional catalysts with vanadium-active centers and SO₃H acidic sites coming from TPS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications of Nanomaterials)

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Review

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16 pages, 5659 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Research Progress on the Applications of Electrospun Nanofibers in Catalysis

by M. Olga Guerrero-Pérez

Catalysts 2022, 12(1), 9; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/catal12010009 - 23 Dec 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3546

Abstract

During the last two decades, electrospinning has become a very popular technique for the fabrication of nanofibers due to its low cost and simple handling. Nanofiber materials have found utilization in many areas such as medicine, sensors, batteries, etc. In catalysis, these materials also present important advantages, since they present a low resistance to internal diffusion and a high surface area to volume ratio. These advantages are mainly due to the diameter–length proportion. A bibliographic analysis on the applications of electrospun nanofibers in catalysis shows that there are two important groups of catalysts that are being investigated, based on TiO₂ and in carbon materials. The main applications found are in photo- and in electro-catalysis. The present study contributes by reviewing these catalytic applications of electrospun nanofibers and demonstrating that they are promising materials as catalysts, underlining some works to prove the advantages and possibilities that these materials have as catalysts. On one hand, the possibilities of synthesis are almost infinite, since with coaxial electrospinning quite complex nanofibers with different layers can be prepared. On the other hand, the diameter and other properties can be controlled by monitoring the applied voltage and other parameters during the synthesis, being quite reproducible procedures. The main advantages of these materials can be grouped in two: one related to their morphology, as has been commented, relative to their low resistance and internal diffusion, that is, their fluidynamic behavior in the reactor; the second group involves advantages related to the fact that the active phases can be nanoscaled and dispersed, improving the activity and selectivity in comparison with conventional catalytic materials with the same chemical composition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications of Nanomaterials)

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