Scientific Achievement
Carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces are shown to have orders of magnitude greater activity than state-of-the art catalysts for COhydrogenation and subsequent chain growth in the presence of hydrogen.
Significance and Impact
This work demonstrates an alternative and more efficient route for producing liquid fuels based on carbon nanotubes.
Research Details
-Density Functional Theory calculations show that C-O groups are catalytically active sites for the reduction of CO.
-XPS and electron microscopy corroborate the activity of C-O functional groups.
-Vertically aligned CNTs are grown by chemical vapor deposition; syngas reactions were carried out in a tubular fixed bed reactor.
A. Sims, M. Jeffers, S. Talapatra, K. Mondal, S. Pokhrel, L. Liang, X. Zhang, A. L. Elias, B. G. Sumpter, V. Meunier, M. Terrone, "Hydro-deoxygenation of CO on functional carbon nanotube for liquid fuels production," Carbon 121, 274 (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2017.05.094
