Epoxidation of propylene on NaCl-modified silver catalysts with air as the oxidant

Propylene epoxidation by air was carried out on NaCl-modified silver (NaCl/Ag) catalysts, and the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of NaCl loadings, propylene to oxygen ratio, and the reaction time on the catalytic performance were investigated. It was found that the addition of NaCl to silver significantly increases the propylene oxide (PO) selectivity. The PO yield has a maximum when the NaCl loading is about 10 wt.%. Also 12.4% conversion of propylene and 31.6% selectivity to PO are obtained on the NaCl/Ag (10 wt.%) catalyst at 350 degreesC, space velocity 1.8 x 10(4) h(-1) and C3H6:O-2 = 1:2. XPS and XRD characterizations show that AgCl formed on the silver catalyst was favorable to propylene epoxidation. A compound with highly oxidized Ag ion was also found, which may be effective for the reaction. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation and characterization of palladium-based composite membranes by electroless plating and magnetron sputtering

Pd and Pd-Ag (24 wt.%) alloy composite membrane were prepared by electroless plating and magnetron sputtering, respectively. The membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and H-2 permeation measurement. Commercial microfiltration ceramic membrane were coated with gamma-Al2O3-based layer by the sol-gel method and used as substrate of Pd and Pd-Ag alloy film. Both the as-prepared membranes were shown: to be He gas-tight at room temperature with a thickness of <1 mu m. Permeation results showed that H-2 permeation through these composite membranes is mainly dominated by the surface chemistry of H-2 on or/and in the membranes. The membranes exhibited a high permeation rate of H-2 and a H-2/N-2 permselectivity of higher than 60 in the optimized operation conditions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of xanthopterin adsorbed on colloidal silver

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of xanthopterin adsorbed on colloidal silver was measured and the Raman spectrum calculated by the density functional theory method was also obtained. Xanthopterin can be detected down to 5 X 10(-9) m and the enhancement of the scattering intensity is at least 10(5)-fold. Xanthopterin molecules are adsorbed flatly on the surface of the Ag particles. This study shows that SERS could be another prospective method for the detection of pterines. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Enhancement of boron removal in treatment of spent rinse from a plating operation using RO

Boron removal is a critical issue in the production of drinking water and of ultra-pure water in the electronics industry. Boron rejection in a RO process is typically in the range of 40-60%. The objective of this study was to distinguish the factor contributing to enhanced boron rejection in reclamation of a spent rinse stream from a plating operation. The effects of different known components used in the feed on boron removal were investigated in the laboratory. The results indicated that glycolic acid and antifoulants could not individually enhance boron rejection in a RO process. A high boron rejection of 95% was achieved as the concentration of iron in the feed was 10 times higher than that of boron, which might be due to formation of a complex between iron oxide and boron. The finding was confirmed in a pilot study.

Controlled growth of uniform silver clusters on HOPG

We have investigated growth of silver clusters on three different, i.e. normally cleaved, thermally oxidized and Ar+ ion sputtered highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations reveal that uniformly sized and spaced Ag clusters only form on the sputtered surface. Ar+ sputtering introduces relatively uniform surface defects compared to other methods. These defects are found to serve as preferential sites for Ag cluster nucleation, which leads to the formation of uniform clusters. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Restructuring and redispersion of silver on SiO2 under oxidizing/reducing atmospheres and its activity toward CO oxidation

The effects of oxygen-hydrogen pretreatments of nanosilver catalysts in cycle mode on the structure and particle size of silver particles, and subsequently the activity of the catalyst toward CO oxidation (or CO selective oxidation in the presence of H-2) are reported in this paper. Ag/SiO2 catalyst with silver particle sizes of ca. 6 similar to 8 nm shows relatively high activity in the present reaction system. The adopting of a cycle of oxidation/reduction pretreatment has a marked influence on the activity of the catalyst. Oxygen pretreatment at 500 degrees C results in the formation of subsurface oxygen and activates the catalyst. As evidenced by in-situ XRD and TEM, the following H-2 treatment at low temperatures (100 similar to 300 degrees C) causes surface faceting and redispersing of the silver particles without destroying the subsurface oxygen species. The subsequent in-situ FTIR and catalytic reaction results show that CO oxidation occurs at -75 degrees C and complete CO conversion can be obtained at 40 degrees C over such a nanosilver catalyst pretreated with oxygen at 500 degrees C followed by H-2 at 100 degrees C. However, prolonged hydrogen treatment at high temperatures (> 300 degrees C) after oxygen pretreatment at 500 degrees C induces the aggregation of silver particles and also depletes so much subsurface oxygen species that the pathway of CO oxidation by the subsurface oxygen species is inhibited. Meanwhile, the ability of the catalyst to adsorb reactants is greatly depressed, resulting in a 20 similar to 30% decrease in the activity toward CO oxidation. However, the activity of the catalyst pretreated with oxygen at 500 degrees C followed by hydrogen treatment at high temperatures (> 300 degrees C) is still higher than that directly pretreated with H,. This kind of catalytic behavior of silver catalyst is associated with physical changes in the silver crystallites because of surface restructuring and crystallite redispersion during the course of oxygen-hydrogen pretreatment steps.