1. Catalyst Development and Control of Catalyst Deactivation for Carbon Dioxide Conversion
- Author
-
Otor, Hope O.
- Subjects
- Chemical Engineering, CO2, Dual Function Materials, Catalyst Deactivation, ALD, SMSI, Core-shell
- Abstract
The anthropogenic emissions of CO2 from industrial processes are considered the major cause of global warming and ocean acidification. To this end, different abatement strategies have been sought to capture CO2 directly from various effluent sources. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) have been touted to solve this problem; however, due to the challenges associated with this approach, research efforts have been focused on the development of Dual Function Materials (DFMs) that can effectively capture and convert CO2 to value-added products. To effectively develop a DFM, it is necessary to produce a highly active and stable catalytic material first. The first part of this thesis focuses on the synthesis and characterization of a highly dispersed inverse CeOx-Cu/SiO2 catalyst. Characterization techniques, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2O chemisorption, and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) analysis revealed effective ceria deposition over the SiO2-supported Cu nanoparticles, which is intended to create a high number of interfacial sites active for the synthesis of methanol from CO2. As Cu catalysts are prone to deactivation, the second part of this thesis is focused on the development of a wet chemical method for encapsulation of the catalyst for control of its deactivation. The alumina overcoating layer proved to be successful in improving the stability of the Cu catalyst under liquid and gas phase conditions.
- Published
- 2020