Editors’ notes
This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s
editorial process
and policies.
Editors have highlighted
the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility:
fact-checked
peer-reviewed publication
trusted source
proofread
by Max Planck Society
New Catalytic Promoter on Par with Decades of Study. Credit: Dr. Frederik Rüther – BasCat (UniCat BASF JointLab)
Addressing climate change demands rethinking of established chemical processes on a timescale of years rather than decades as in traditional R&D cycles. In collaboration with BasCat (UniCat BASF JointLab), a team of researchers from the Theory Department at the Fritz Haber Institute developed an accelerated discovery approach to identify a promising catalytic promoter formulation for the conversion of propane into the base chemical propylene.
Discovered in a few weeks and with fewer than 100 experiments conducted, the novel promoted catalyst rivals those discovered through decades of research. The findings, published in ACS Catalysis, not only highlight the partnership’s success but also open avenues for a more efficient and informed development of multi-promoter formulations.
Catalysis plays a crucial role in the chemical industry, influencing multiple aspects of everyday life, such as plastic production, drug development, and manufacturing of fuels and fertilizers. Catalysts accelerate chemical reactions and improve their selectivity to desired products, while reducing energy consumption and waste.
Although performance and longevity of catalysts can be further boosted by using promoters, their identification and optimization are oftentimes tedious, time-consuming, and costly.
The Institute’s collaboration with BasCat focuses on fundamental research in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and especially on the catalytic transformation of hydrocarbons to value-added products.
The team’s research proposed an accelerated discovery approach which explores a multi-promoter design space with only a limited number of experiments, based on an efficient adaptive design-of-experiment (DoE) experiment planning and a throughput maximization through parallelized testing. The design space comprised on the order of 20,000 possible promoter combinations for the non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation to propylene, using platinum on alumina as a catalyst.
An exhaustive experimental testing would have required years of research. Instead, their discovery approach successfully identified a promising new promoter formulation by conducting less than 100 experiments in a few weeks.
Currently, propylene is a crucial feedstock chemical for polymer production and it is anticipated to see its demand reach 200 megatons by 2030. Existing cracking processes are unfortunately insufficient to meet this expected demand and more recent commercially applied processes still present limitations to reach high product yield.
Consequently, discovering new combinations of high-performance multi-promoters and gaining a deeper understanding of the chemical mechanisms behind their promoting effects are seen as crucial elements.
More information:
Christian Kunkel et al, Systematic Exploration of a Multi-Promoter Catalyst Composition Space with Limited Experiments: Non-Oxidative Propane Dehydrogenation to Propylene, ACS Catalysis (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.4c01740
Citation:
Accelerated approach leads to discovery of a new catalytic promoter on par with decades of study (2024, May 30)
retrieved 2 June 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-05-approach-discovery-catalytic-par-decades.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
How worms shaped Earth’s biodiversity explosion
11 hours ago
Meet Neo Px: the super plant that attacks air pollution
12 hours ago
A Chinese spacecraft lands on the moon’s far side to collect rocks in growing space rivalry with US
12 hours ago
Saturday Citations: The sound of music, sneaky birds, better training for LLMs. Plus: Diversity improves research
Jun 1, 2024
Study investigates a massive ‘spider’ pulsar
Jun 1, 2024
Greener, more effective termite control: Natural compound attracts wood eaters
Jun 1, 2024
Shear genius: Researchers find way to scale up wonder material, which could do wonders for the Earth
Jun 1, 2024
New vestiges of the first life on Earth discovered in Saudi Arabia
May 31, 2024
Mussels downstream of wastewater treatment plant contain radium, study reports
May 31, 2024
A new way to see viruses in action: Super-resolution microscopy provides a nano-scale look
May 31, 2024
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
More from Chemistry
Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. This website makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact editor @americanfork.business
