Self‐cleaning perovskite type catalysts for the dry reforming of methane

Gas-to-liquid processes are generally used to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into liquid fuels via an intermediate syngas stream. This includes the production of liquid fuels from biomass-derived sources such as biogas. For example, the dry reforming of methane is done by reacting CH4 and CO2, the two main components of natural biogas, into more valuable products, i.e., CO and H2. Nickel containing perovskite type catalysts can promote this reaction, yielding good conversions and selectivities; however, they are prone to coke laydown under certain operating conditions. We investigated the addition of high oxygen mobility dopants such as CeO2, ZrO2, or YSZ to reduce carbon laydown, particularly using reaction conditions that normally result in rapid coking. While doping with YSZ, YDC, GDC, and SDC did not result in any improvement, we show that a Ni perovskite catalyst (Na0.5La0.5Ni0.3Al0.7O2.5) doped with 80.9 ZrO2 15.2 CeO2 gave the lowest amount of carbon formation at 800 °C and activity was maintained over the operating time.

The use of binary polymeric networks in stabilising polyethylene oxide solid dispersions

The objective of this study was to determine if a high Tg polymer (Eudragit® S100) could be used to stabilize amorphous domains of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and hence improve the stability of binary polymer systems containing celecoxib (CX). We propose a novel method of stabilizing the amorphous PEO solid dispersion through inclusion of a miscible, high Tg polymer, namely, that can form strong inter-polymer interactions. The effects of inter-polymer interactions and miscibility between PEO and Eudragit S100 are considered. Polymer blends were first manufactured via hot-melt extrusion at different PEO/S100 ratios (70/30, 50/50, and 30/70 wt/wt). Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis data suggested a good miscibility between PEO and S100 polymer blends, particularly at the 50/50 ratio. To further evaluate the system, CX/PEO/S100 ternary mixtures were extruded. Immediately after hot-melt extrusion, a single Tg that increased with increasing S100 content (anti-plasticization) was observed in all ternary systems. The absence of powder X-ray diffractometry crystalline Bragg’s peaks also suggested amorphization of CX. Upon storage (40°C/75% relative humidity), the formulation containing PEO/S100 at a ratio of 50:50 was shown to be most stable. Fourier transform infrared studies confirmed the presence of hydrogen bonding between Eudragit S100 and PEO suggesting this was the principle reason for stabilization of the amorphous CX/PEO solid dispersion system.