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Structural Evolution Of Molybdenum Carbides In Hot Aqueous Environments And Impact On Low-Temperature Hydroprocessing Of Acetic Acid, Jae-Soon Choi, Viviane Schwartz, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Mark Crocker, Samuel A. Lewis Jr., Michael J. Lance, Harry M. Meyer Iii, Karren L. More

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

We investigated the structural evolution of molybdenum carbides subjected to hot aqueous environments and their catalytic performance in low-temperature hydroprocessing of acetic acid. While bulk structures of Mo carbides were maintained after aging in hot liquid water, a portion of carbidic Mo sites were converted to oxidic sites. Water aging also induced changes to the non-carbidic carbon deposited during carbide synthesis and increased surface roughness, which in turn affected carbide pore volume and surface area. The extent of these structural changes was sensitive to the initial carbide structure and was lower under actual hydroprocessing conditions indicating the possibility of further …