A Mossbauer study of In-Fe2O3/HZSM-5 catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NO by methane

The selective catalytic reduction of NO by CH4 was compared over In-Fe2O3/HZSM-5 catalysts prepared by impregnation and co-impregnation methods. It was found that the catalyst preparation method greatly affected the catalyst activity. The impregnated catalyst was very active, but the co-impregnated one showed poor activity. The In Fe2O3/HZSM-5 catalysts were investigated by Mossbauer spectroscopy. The results showed that indium cations entered into the iron oxide lattice in the co-impregnated catalyst, while the impregnated catalyst exhibited a more stable structure, when both of the catalysts were treated severely in the reaction atmosphere. Characterization by means of combined in situ temperature programmed reduction (TPR)- Mossbauer spectroscopy further revealed that the performances of the two catalysts were different in the TPR processes.

Effect of addition of Zn on the catalytic activity of a Co/HZSM-5 catalyst for the SCR of NOx with CH4

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx by methane in the presence of excess oxygen was studied on a Zn-Co/HZSM-5 catalyst. It was found that the addition of Zn could improve effectively the selectivity of methane towards NOx reduction. When prepared by a coimpregnation method, the Zn-Co/HZSM-5 catalyst showed much higher catalytic activity than the two catalysts of a Zn/Co/HZSM-5 and Co/Zn/HZSM-5 prepared by the successive impregnation method. It is considered that there exists a cooperative effect among the Zn, Co and zeolite, which enhances the reduction of NO to NO2 reaction and the activation of methane. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The study on a PVC membrane electrode for gemfibrozil

In this paper, a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane electrode is prepared for gemfibrozil, 2, 2-dimethyl-5(2,5-xylyloxy) valeric acid, based on its ion pair complexes with hexadecyltrioctyl ammonium iodide (HTOA). The membrane composition of the electrode was optimized by using the sequential level elimination method for orthogonal experimental design. The electrode has a Nernstian response range from 2.5 X 10(-5) to 0.1 mol/l with an average slope of 55.3 mV/decade. The limit of detection is 7.1 X 10(-6) mol/l. The electrode responses were not affected by pH in the range 10.0-12.3. A Na2B4O7-Na2CO3 buffer of pH = 11.0 was selected as the background electrolyte solution for potentiometric measurements. The electrode was used for determining gemfibrozil in pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results.

Influence of iron promoter on catalytic properties of Rh-Mn-Li/SiO2 for CO hydrogenation

The effect of iron promoter on the catalytic properties of Rh-Mn-Li/SiO2 catalyst in the synthesis Of C-2 oxygenates from syngas was investigated by means of the following techniques: CO hydrogenation reaction, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), temperature-programmed desorption and reaction of adsorbed CO (CO-TPD and TPSR) and pulse adsorption of CO. The results showed that the addition of iron promoter could improve the activity of the catalysts. Unexpectedly, the yield of C-2 oxygenates increased greatly from 331.6 up to 457.5 g/(kg h) when 0.05% Fe was added into Rh-Mn-Li/SiO2 catalyst, while no change in the selectivity to C-2 oxygenates was observed. However, the activity and selectivity Of C-2 oxygenates were greatly decreased if the Fe amount exceeded 1.0%. The existence of a little iron decreased the reducibility of Rh precursor, while the reduction of Fe component itself became easier. CO uptake decreased with increasing the quantity of Fe addition. This phenomenon was further confirmed by CO-TPD results. The CO-TPD and TPSR results showed that only the strongly adsorbed CO could be hydrogenated, while the weakly adsorbed CO was desorbed. We propose that Fe is highly dispersed and in close contact with Rh and Mn; such arrangements were responsible for the high yield Of C-2 oxygenates. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of uniform calcium alginate gel beads by membrane emulsification coupled with internal gelation

With the objective of making calcium alginate gel beads with small and uniform size, membrane emulsification coupled with internal gelation was proposed. Spherical gel beads with mean size of about 50 mum, and even smaller ones in water, and with narrow size distribution were successfully obtained. Experimental studies focusing mainly on the effect of process parameters on bead properties were performed. The size of the beads was mainly dependent on the diameter of the membrane pores. High transmembrane pressure made for large gel beads with wide size distribution. Low sodium alginate concentration produced nonspherical beads, whereas a high concentration was unsuitable for the production of small beads with narrow distribution. Thus 1.5% w/v was enough. A high surfactant concentration favored the formation of small beads, but the adverse effect on mass transfer should be considered in this novel process. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Novel activity of TiO2 for catalytic conversion of CO and H2O to alcohols in the presence of K2CO3

In the presence of K2CO3, TiO2 shows good catalytic activity and stability for the alcohols synthesis from CO and H2O. CO conversion of 7.6% and the STY of MeOH (about 24 mg g(-1) h(-1)) and EtOH (about 8 mg g(-1) h(-1)) are obtained under reaction conditions of T = 573 K, P = 0.5 MPa, CO flow rate of 30 ml min(-1) and CO/H2O = 3/2 during the period of 12 h to 44 h time-on-stream.

Affinity membrane chromatography for the analysis and purification of proteins

Affinity chromatography is unique among separation methods as it is the only technique that permits the purification of proteins based on biological functions rather than individual physical or chemical properties. The high specificity of affinity chromatography is due to the strong interaction between the ligand and the proteins of interest. Membrane separation allows the processing of a large amount of sample in a relatively short time owing to its structure, which provides a system with rapid reaction kinetics. The integration of membrane and affinity chromatography provides a number of advantages over traditional affinity chromatography with porous-bead packed columns, especially with regard to time and recovery of activity. This review gives detailed descriptions of materials used as membrane substrates, preparation of basic membranes, coupling of affinity ligands to membrane supports, and categories of affinity membrane cartridges. It also summarizes the applications of cellulose/glycidyl methacrylate composite membranes for proteins separation developed in our laboratory. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Gas permeability of a novel cellulose membrane

A novel cellulose membrane was prepared by using amine oxides as the solvent and its mechanical performance was measured. Steady-state permeation rates of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, argon and helium in the homogeneous dense cellulose membrane were measured in the temperature range of 298-353 K and under gas pressures up to 1 MPa. The effect of swelling on hydrophilic membrane permeability was studied in some detail on the cellulose membrane. The difference in gas permeability between the "dry" cellulose membrane and the "water-swollen" cellulose membrane was investigated, and the gas permeability between the cellulose membrane and the Cellophane was compared. In this paper, the separation performance Of CO2 over H-2 in a "water-swollen" cellulose membrane is reported for the first time and the separation factor Of CO2/H-2 can be up to 15. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Pretreatment of polymer-supported Pd-Co and its catalytic activity

Various pretreatments of poly (N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) protected palladium-cobalt system result in different catalytic activities in the hydrodechlorination of chlorobenzene.

Selective hydrogenation of cyclopentadiene in mono- and bimetallic catalytic hollow-fiber reactors

The mono- and bimetallic catalytic polymeric hollow-fiber reactors were established with catalytic polymeric cellulose acetate (CA) hollow fibers prepared by supporting the polymer-anchored mono- or bimetallic catalyst in/on the inner wall of the hollow fibers. The selective hydrogenation of cyclopentadiene to cyclopentene was efficiently carried out in the above catalytic polymeric hollow-fiber reactors, especially in the NaBH4 reduced bimetallic PVP-Pd-0.5Co/CA hollow-fiber reactor under mild conditions of 40 degrees C and 0.1 MPa. It was found that there was a remarkable synergic effect of palladium and cobalt reduced by NaBH4 in the bimetallic PVP-Pd-0.5Co/CA hollow-fiber reactor, which results in a 97.5% conversion of cyclopentadiene and a 98.4% selectivity for cyclopentene. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Catalytic decomposition of hydrazine over supported molybdenum nitride catalysts in a monopropellant thruster

The catalytic decomposition of hydrazine over a series of MoNx/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts with different Mo loadings was investigated in a monopropellant thruster (10 N). When the Mo loading is equal to or higher than the monolayer coverage of MoO3 on gamma-Al2O3, the catalytic performance of the supported molybdenum nitride catalyst is close to that of the conventionally used Ir/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst. The MoNx/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst with a loading of about 23wt% Mo (1.5 monolayers) shows the highest activity for hydrazine decomposition. There is an activation process for the MoNx/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts at the early stage of hydrazine decomposition, which is probably due to the reduction of the oxide layer formed in the passivation procedure.