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Magnetophoretic Sorting of Single Catalyst Particles
Author(s) -
Solsona Miguel,
Nieuwelink AnneEva,
Meirer Florian,
Abelmann Leon,
Odijk Mathieu,
Olthuis Wouter,
Weckhuysen Bert M.,
van den Berg Albert
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201804942
Subject(s) - catalysis , sorting , particle (ecology) , fluid catalytic cracking , sort , nanotechnology , materials science , microfluidics , throughput , chemical engineering , particle size , chemical physics , chemistry , computer science , organic chemistry , engineering , telecommunications , oceanography , wireless , information retrieval , programming language , geology
A better understanding of the deactivation processes taking place within solid catalysts is vital to design better ones. However, since inter‐particle heterogeneities are more a rule than an exception, particle sorting is crucial to analyse single catalyst particles in detail. Microfluidics offers new possibilities to sort catalysts at the single particle level. Herein, we report a first‐of‐its‐kind 3D printed magnetophoretic chip able to sort catalyst particles by their magnetic moment. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) particles were separated based on their Fe content. Magnetophoretic sorting shows that large Fe aggregates exist within 20 % of the FCC particles with the highest Fe content. The availability of Brønsted acid sites decreases with increasing Fe content. This work paves the way towards a high‐throughput catalyst diagnostics platform to determine why specific catalyst particles perform better than others.