Engineering Commons^™

Rational Design And Synthesis Of Pt/Silica-Alumina Metal-Acid Bifunctional Catalysts, Jadid Ettaz Samad

Theses and Dissertations

In the domain of rational catalyst design and synthesis, Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) has been applied with tremendous potential and use. In this study, SEA method has been advanced to thick slurries as well as to mixed oxide systems with a view to synthesizing stable, active and selective catalysts fine-tuned for specific applications.

The main objective was to synthesize metal-acid bifunctional catalysts with controlled ratio and proximity between metal and acid sites in order to analyze their effects on a bifunctional reaction. At first, the difference in charging behavior of silica and alumina in solution was used to selectively deposit …

Rational Synthesis To Optimize Ruthenium-Based Biomass Conversion Catalysts, Shuo Cao

Theses and Dissertations

With worldwide petroleum resources dwindling and greenhouse gas emissions rising, it is urgent to find renewable replacements for petroleum-derived products. A biomass-derived chemical with high potential as a platform intermediate, γ-valerolactone (GVL) can be readily synthesized by hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA), itself a common biomass intermediate, using supported Ru catalysts. Overall, vapor phase hydrogenation is more energy sensitive as the higher boiling point of LA (~245°C) and requires a high energy input, comparable to liquid phase hydrogenation, which is more economical. To date the literature on many novel biomass conversion processes such as the hydrogenation of LA to GVL …