(257b) Flow Reactors for Rapid Screening of Reaction Parameters to Synthesize Molybdenum Carbide Catalysts for Biomass Conversion Processes

Catalytic conversion of biomass has garnered significant research attention to promote the development of sustainable routes to fuels and chemicals. This led to more effort toward finding applicable, earth-abundant, and cost-effective catalysts that promote selective transformation of biomass-derived compounds into useful products. Nanostructuring of transition metal carbides is an outstanding candidate for multiple catalytic transformations (e.g. hydrogenation, deoxygenation, C-C coupling) of biomass-derived compounds due to their superior catalytic performance. Recently, solution-phase phase pure α-MoC_1-x catalysts were manufactured by thermolytic decomposition of Mo(CO)₆ at mild reaction conditions for thermocatalytic CO₂ hydrogenation. However, syntheses in batch processes hinder the control and optimized tuning of the nanoparticles’ physical properties, which may affect catalytic performance. In order to investigate the reaction parameters and their influence on the resulting nanoparticles, we have implemented a millifluidic flow reactor system for screening the experimental variable space for MoC_1-x nanoparticle synthesis across a wide range of reaction conditions. The superior heat and mass transport characteristics provided by millifluidic flow reactors allows rapid parametric screening and continuous monitoring of the experimental variables to tune nanoparticle properties. Design of Experiment analysis is preformed to assess the influence of reactor temperature, flow rate, and ligand concentration to find the parameters that have statistically significant effects on the response variables, namely, the residence time, yield, and nanoparticle size and morphology. Performing parametric screening for controlled nanostructuring including size, morphology, and crystallinity may lead to greater understanding of the structure-function relationships of the resulting nanoparticles and provide an optimal tool to tune nanoparticle properties.