Open AccessMOF-Derived Co3O4 Nanoparticles Catalyzing Hydrothermal Deoxygenation of Fatty Acids for Alkane Production
Author(s) -
Defu Zeng,
Yalin Li,
Tao Xia,
Fuyi Cui,
Jing Zhang
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acs omega
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2470-1343
DOI - 10.1021/acsomega.2c04382
Subject(s) - catalysis , thermogravimetric analysis , stearic acid , high resolution transmission electron microscopy , deoxygenation , selectivity , chemistry , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , chemical engineering , materials science , nanoparticle , adsorption , nuclear chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , engineering
Designing economical and nonprecious catalysts with a catalytic performance as good as that of noble metals is of great importance in future renewable bioenergy production. In this study, the metal-organic framework (MOF) was applied as a precursor template to synthesize Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles with a carbon matrix shell (denoted as M-Co 3 O 4 ). To select the synthesized optimal catalyst, stearic acid was chosen as the model reactant. The effects of catalyst dosage, methanol dosage, water dosage, temperature, and reaction time on catalytic efficiency were examined. Under the designed condition, M-Co 3 O 4 exhibited high catalytic performance and the catalyst showed higher conversion of stearic acid (98.7%) and selectivity toward C8-C18 alkanes (92.2%) in comparison with Pt/C (95.8% conversion and 93.2% selectivity toward C8-C18). Furthermore, a series of characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), nitrogen adsorption isotherms (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was applied to investigate the physicochemical properties of the catalysts. Finally, we proposed that decarbonization (deCO) could be the presumably mechanistic pathway for the production of C8-C18 alkanes from the decomposition of stearic acid.