Miguel Banares

Abstract:

Spectroscopy is an enabling tool to understand structure-reactivity relationships, that can be applied from predicting toxicity of nanomaterials to engineer better catalytic processes. Operando methodology analyzes both, the catalyst structure and its activity/selectivity simultaneously in a cell that is fit for in situ spectroscopy and performs like a catalytic reactor; correlating structure changes with catalytic performance. Some representative works illustrate this. 1-3 We will present a study on the role of additives, support, coverage, hydration and reaction conditions on the states of supported vanadium and its relevance for catalytic reaction and reducibility. This is applied to assess the molecular basis for activation/deactivation and the nature of the catalyst active site for oxide reduction, alkane oxidative dehydrogenation, ammoxidation and for environmental selective catalytic reduction of NOx. We will also illustrate the capacity of real time spectroscopy to understand reaction mechanism for liquid phase reactions,4 like the role of Brønsted Acid Sites (BAS) vs. that of Lewis Acid Sites (LAS) for the acetalization of glycerol into solketal. Mesoporous cellular foams modified to contain exclusively BAS, LAS and combinations thereof illustrate the role of BAS.4 This relevance led us to use novel Brønsted acid ionic liquids (BAILs).5 The transversal nature of the operando approach places it at the junction between fundamental catalytic chemistry and applied chemical engineering. This work is supported by European Commission BIORIMA GA 760928 and Spanish Ministry RIEN2O, CTM2017-82335-R.