Article abstract
Nature Chemistry 1, 722 - 728 (2009)
Published online: 8 November 2009 | doi:10.1038/nchem.433
Subject Category: Catalysis
Identification of active Zr–WOx clusters on a ZrO2 support for solid acid catalysts
Wu Zhou1, Elizabeth I. Ross-Medgaarden2, William V. Knowles3, Michael S. Wong3, Israel E. Wachs2 & Christopher J. Kiely1
Abstract
Tungstated zirconia is a robust solid acid catalyst for light alkane (C4–C8) isomerization. Several structural models for catalytically active sites have been proposed, but the topic remains controversial, partly because of the absence of direct structural imaging information on the various supported WOx species. High-angle annular dark-field imaging of WO3/ZrO2 catalysts in an aberration-corrected analytical electron microscope allows, for the first time, direct imaging of the various species present. Comparison of the relative distribution of these WOx species in materials showing low and high catalytic activities has allowed the deduction of the likely identity of the catalytic active site—namely, subnanometre Zr–WOx clusters. This information has subsequently been used in the design of new catalysts, in which the activity of a poor catalyst has been increased by two orders of magnitude using a synthesis procedure that deliberately increases the number density of catalytically relevant active species.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA
- Operando Molecular Spectroscopy and Catalysis Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
Correspondence to: Christopher J. Kiely1 e-mail: chk5@lehigh.edu
