Tracing the reactivity of single atom alloys for ethanol dehydrogenation using ab initio simulations

An ab initio micro-kinetic model (MKM) is constructed to understand the reactivity trend of single atom alloys (SAAs) of Cu and Au for non-oxidative dehydrogenation (NODH) of ethanol to produce...

Ethanol Dehydrogenation to Acetaldehyde over Co@N-Doped Carbon

Cobalt and nitrogen co-doped carbon materials (Co@CN) have recently attracted significant attention as highly efficient noble-metal-free catalysts exhibiting a large application range. In a similar research interest, and taking into account the ever-increasing importance of bioethanol as a renewable raw material, here, we report the results on ethanol dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde over Co@NC catalysts. The catalyst samples were synthesized by a variety of affordable techniques, ensuring generation of various types of Co species incorporated in carbon, such as subnanosized cobalt sites and nano-sized particles of metallic cobalt and cobalt oxides. The catalytic activity was tested under both oxidative and non-oxidative gas-phase conditions at 200–450 °C using a fixed-bed flow reactor. The non-oxidative conditions proved to be much more preferable for the target reaction, competing, however, with ethanol dehydration to ethylene. Under specified reaction conditions, ethanol conversion achieved a level of 66% with 84% selectivity to acetaldehyde at 400 °C. The presence of molecular oxygen in the feed led mainly to deep oxidation of ethanol to COx, giving acetaldehyde in a comparatively low yield. The potential contribution of carbon itself and supported cobalt forms to the observed reaction pathways is discussed.

Zinc oxide-modified mordenite as an effective catalyst for the dehydrogenation of (bio)ethanol to acetaldehyde

Varying the extraframework metal cation on alkali exchanged mordenite tunes the ethanol dehydrogenation properties of ZnO supported on mordenite, resulting in enhanced lifetime, low ethylene selectivity and increased acetaldehyde productivity per Zn.