(260s) Engineering Supraparticle Assemblies for Catalysis
AIChE Annual Meeting
2016
2016 AIChE Annual Meeting
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum
Poster Session: Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Monday, November 14, 2016 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm
The development of SP assemblies does not only provide a cost-effective and more stable alternative to enzymes but they can improve the activity when compared to current inorganic NP catalysts. The tight structural integration of NPs in SPs present the capacity to enhance the stability of catalysts, and mitigate the aggregation of individual constituents by offering separation while remaining immobilized. SPs are capable of combining the individual properties of constituents to produce enhanced catalysts.
This work will focus on reactions that occur under mild reaction conditions; thereby, the main component of inorganic SPs will be iron sulfide (FexSx). Iron sulfide is an Earth-abundant, non-toxic, cost effective mineral that is commonly used in solar-based applications. It is a key part of the synthesis/redox of organic compounds occurring via the reduction of CO2 in the presence of H2. The ample amount of FexSx and the ability to tune the bandgap of bulk FexSx (0.95 eV) to FexSx NPs (up to values of 2.75 eV), show the potential of iron sulfides in various catalysis applications.