Sharif Digital Repository

The aqueous phase reforming (APR) of glycerol is an attractive yet challenging pathway to convert abundant biomass into value added hydrogen. Pt catalysts have received attention due to their ability to produce hydrogen-rich gas under APR conditions. In this work, the conversion of glycerol into hydrogen is demonstrated using Pt0.05CexZr0.95-xO2 (x = 0, 0.29, 0.475, 0.66 and 0.95) solid solution catalysts. Both characteristic (XRD, BET, H2-TPR, CO-chemisorption, TEM and XPS) and reactivity measurements were used to investigate the activity of the catalysts. Results indicated that reactivity depended on the Ce/Zr ratio, which in turn affected the Pt oxidation state, active metal dispersion... 

Liquid phase hydro-purification of crude terephthalic acid (CTA) was performed using supported Pd and Pd-Sn catalysts on functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (FMWCNT). Pd/FMWCNT catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation with Pd loadings of 0.05 to 0.6 wt.%. Pd-Sn/FMWCNT catalysts were prepared by co-impregnation (CI) and successive impregnation (SI) using 0.3 wt.% Pd loading and Sn/Pd molar ratios of 0.1 and 0.35 for the CI method and 0.05 to 0.35 for the SI method. Pd loading of 0.3 wt.% for Pd/FMWCNT was sufficient to decrease the 4-carboxybenzaldehyde (4-CBA) content of CTA from 2100 ppm to 5.5 ppm without excessive hydrogenation of terephthalic acid (TA). The commercial catalyst... 

Gold nanoparticles supported on poly ionic-liquid magnetic nanoparticles (MNP@PIL@Au) were synthesized by reduction of HAuCl4 with sodium borohydride. The synthesized catalyst was characterized using by AAS, TEM, FT-IR, EDS, TGA and XRD techniques. The performance of the synthesized catalyst was investigated in the reduction of nitroarenes with NaBH4. The reaction was carried out for various nitroarenes in water and mild conditions with high yields. The catalyst selectivity for the reduction of nitro group in the presences of other functional groups such as halides and alkynes was fairly well. The recycling of the catalyst was done 8 times without any significant loss of its catalytic... 

The use of 1,3-bis(N-heterocyclic)carbene ligands with different alkyl wingtip groups (alkyl = methyl, isopropyl and tert-butyl) is an effective method for the palladium-catalysed direct S-arylation of methylphenyl sulfoxide and C–C coupling of various of aryl halides with alkenes. The reactions proceed in moderate to good yields. Interestingly, it is shown experimentally that, by using bulkier bidentate N-heterocyclic carbene ligands, more selective catalytic systems towards cis products in Heck coupling reactions can be achieved. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd  

The brain-computer interfacing (BCI), a platform to extract features and classify different motor movement tasks from noisy and highly correlated electroencephalogram signals, is limited mostly by the complex and power-hungry algorithms. Among different techniques recently devised to tackle this issue, real-time onset detection, due to its negligible delay and minimal power overhead, is the most efficient one. Here, we propose a novel algorithm that outperforms the state-of-the-art design by sixfold in terms of speed, without sacrificing the accuracy for a real-time, hand movement intention detection based on the adaptive wavelet transform with only 1 s detection delay and maximum... 

In this manuscript, synthesis of cobalt/poly vinyl alcohol (PVA)/gamma alumina nanocomposite via a simple room temperature, as well as its catalyst performance were explored. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were conducted. The surface area of the polymeric composite was obtained to be 280 m2/g. The cobalt loading on the nanocomposite was measured using inductivity couple plasma. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the size of cobalt crystalline encapsulate inside the polymer was confined to 5 nm. Magnetic property analysis, using vibrating sample magnetometer, confirmed... 

Abstract: A metal-free method for activation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is introduced using piperidinium trifluoroacetate (PPHTFA) ionic liquid as catalyst. The catalyst has been used for selective oxidation of thioanisole to its corresponding sulfoxide at room temperature. It was found that the selectivities were reduced by increasing the reaction temperature. In this work, no organic solvents or metallic salts were used for activation of H2O2. Mechanistic studies suggested that the reaction proceeds via in situ formation of trifluoro hydroperoxy species as an active catalytic intermediate. Formation of the catalytic intermediate was screened by NMR, IR and Mass Spectroscopy analysis.... 

A novel bi-functional polymeric catalyst was synthesized by immobilization of tungstate anions onto the nitrogen rich poly(ionic liquid)/magnetic nanocomposite. The resulting catalyst has two types of catalytic sites: (i) immobilized WO4 anions with bis-imidazolium ionic liquid cation for selective oxidation of alcohols and (ii) basic amine groups for Knoevenagel condensation between produced aldehyde and malononitrile. Due to the polymeric nature of the catalyst, large amounts of tungstate and basic nitrogen groups were presented on the solid surface which led to a decrease in the applied catalyst mass for catalytic reaction. High catalytic activity and excellent selectivity of catalyst in... 

Heterogeneous nanoscale catalyst was successfully synthesized via anchoring of oxoperoxo molybdenum(VI) complex on the chloro-functionalized SBA-15. The mesoporous nanomaterials, MoO3(sal-phz)/SBA-15 (where sal-phz is salicylidene 2-picoloyl hydrazine) were identified by several characterization techniques. MoO3(sal-phz)/SBA-15 and MoO3(sal-phz) were also treated as catalysts in the olefins epoxidation reactions. Both homogenous and heterogeneous catalysts exhibit outstanding activity and selectivity for epoxide with tert-BuOOH in decane as oxidant at 95 °C. In addition, the heterogeneous nanocatalyst was chemically stable and can be efficiently reused for at least six cycles without a... 

The effect of SiO2/Al2O3 ratio on high silica content nano-sized HZSM-5 stability and selectivity in conversion of methanol to propylene (MTP) has been investigated in a continuous flow isotherm fixed-bed reactor. Highly crystalline HZSM-5 zeolite samples with SiO2/Al2O3 ratios ranging 150–200 have been prepared and characterized using XRD, ICP-AES analytical techniques, NH3-TPD, BET surface area and SEM imaging for studying their physical and chemical behavior. The reaction was conducted at 480 °C and 1bar with WHSV = 1 h−1 and a solution with 1:1 wt% of methanol and water as feed. Over thoroughly monitoring the catalyst synthesis conditions, the nanocrystal ZSM-5 zeolite samples were... 

Molybdenum(VI)–oxodiperoxo complex containing an oxazine ligand, ([MoO(O2)2(phox)], phox: 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-5,6-dihydro-1,3-oxazine) was conveniently synthesized and immobilized onto chloro-functionalized mesoporous silica SBA-15 by covalent bonding between the chloropropyl group on the internal surface of the pores and the nitrogen atom of oxazine ligand yielding [MoO(O2)2(phox)]/SBA-15. The resulting material was characterized by FT-IR, TGA, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, ICP-AES, BET and UV–vis spectroscopy. The heterogeneous catalyst [MoO(O2)2(phox)]/SBA-15 was employed in the epoxidation of alkenes, exhibiting high catalytic performance and selectivity for epoxide similar to that of homogeneous... 

In industrial scale of Gas to Liquid (GTL) process in Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, a part of reactor outlet gases such as CO2 and CH4 as side reaction products, is usually recycled. In this study, the influence of CO2 and CH4 on the performance and selectivity of Co-Ru/Al2O3 catalyst is investigated by injection of these gases (0-20 vol. % of feed) to the feed stream. The effect of temperature and feed flow rate, are also inspected. The results show that low amounts of CO2 in the feed stream, doesn't change the catalyst activity significantly but increasing the amount of CO2 (more than 10 vol. %) cause the CO conversion to decrease and the selectivity of heavy components to increase.... 

Abstract: Carbonyl compounds were prepared by selective oxidation of alcohols in the presence of recoverable Fe 3O 4@ SiO 2@ Pd magnetic nanocatalyst in aqueous media as a green solvent. Molecular oxygen served as an oxidant. The catalyst was removed from the reaction media by external magnetic field, washed with methanol, and reused for six more times without any considerable reduction in its reactivity. The chemoselectivity and regioselectivity of the catalyst can serve for selective oxidation of primary alcohols in the presence of secondary ones, and for oxidation of unhindered alcohols in the presence of hindered ones. Graphical Abstract: Selective and facile oxidation of alcohols to... 

In this research, the activity and selectivity of a platinum-based catalyst for H2 production through aqueous phase reforming (APR) in a fixed-bed reactor (FBR) as well as, a structured catalyst microreactor (MR) were investigated. In this venue, first, an in-house designed MR was fabricated and the catalytic material was deposited on the channel walls of this steel made reactor. After verification of the stability of the coated layer, the prepared reactor was employed to investigate the APR reaction. In this regard, APR of the ethylene glycol and glycerol over Pt/Al2O3 and Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 catalyst were conducted in an MR and FBR. Obtained results demonstrated that employing Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 as a... 

In this study, Fe3O4@Au/metal-organic frameworks (Fe3O4@Au/MOF) nanocomposite with flower-like core-shell structure was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal route. The as-prepared catalyst was characterized using different techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, TEM, EDX, VSM, TGA, BET, and ICP. This nanocomposite exhibited an excellent catalytic performance in selective oxidation of cyclohexene to 2-cyclohexene-1-one by using molecular oxygen as green oxidant. The influence of reaction conditions including, pressure of molecular oxygen, temperature, time, solvent, and amount of catalyst on conversion and selectivity of products were evaluated. The activation energy (Ea) of the reaction was... 

The preparation and characterization are presented of a new catalytic material comprising Mg–Al layered double hydroxide and intercalated manganese(III) 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-benzoate)porphyrinacetate. Characterization was realized via various techniques. The prepared composite exhibited excellent catalytic activity in the selective epoxidation of various olefins with tetra-n-butylammonium hydrogen monopersulfate as an oxidant under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, the catalytic system could be reused nine times without significant reduction in conversion percentage and any special care or additional treatment of the catalyst. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd  

In this study, a series of Ni nano-catalysts supported on Al2O3 and MgO were prepared through the co-precipitation technique. Effects of the Al/Mg ratio on physicochemical characteristics of Ni/Al2O3–MgO catalysts were examined. Moreover, catalytic performance was investigated in order to determine the optimum catalyst for H2 production in aqueous phase reforming (APR) of glycerol. It was revealed that, the APR activity of synthesized catalysts strongly depended on the aforementioned ratio. In addition, it was observed that, the catalytic activity of Ni/MgO and Ni/Al2O3 samples were both lower than that of the corresponding mixed oxide supports. Furthermore, it was shown that, amongst the... 

Synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) via methanol dehydration were investigated over various catalysts, and via direct CO hydrogenation over hybrid catalysts composed of Al-modified H-Mordenite zeolite and Cu/ZnO/ZrO 2. H-Mordenite zeolite exhibited the highest activity in dehydration of methanol. However, its selectivity toward dimethyl ether was rather low. For this reason, the H-Mordenite was modified. Modification of zeolites was performed by wet impregnation method and considered catalysts were characterized by AAS, XRD and NH3-TPD analyses. Results of catalytic tests indicated that H-Mordenite modified with 8 wt% aluminum oxide was the best catalyst for synthesis of dimethyl ether from... 

A mild and practically-convenient one-pot procedure for the direct Mannich reaction has been developed using a condensation of amines, aldehydes and unmodified ketones under solvent free conditions in the presence of Znl 2 with good to excellent yields. The present methodology offers several advantages, such as excellent yields, simple procedures, short reaction times and milder conditions with very small amounts of catalyst. Furthermore, it is the first time that the catalytic activity of several catalysts under solvent free conditions has been studied. It was found that both the diastereoselectivity and the rate of reaction were improved with various Lewis acids and metal oxides. However,... 

In this work, PtxPd1-x (x = 0, 0.5, and 1)nanoparticles (NPs)were synthesized on the surface of SiO2@graphene oxide which covered by 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim]PF6)ionic liquid (IL)layer. FT-IR spectroscopy, zeta potential, CHN elemental analysis, XRD, XPS, SEM, EDX, TEM, TGA, BET, and ICP-AES techniques were applied for the characterization of the multiphasic catalyst. The as-prepared nanocomposite was used as an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexene by molecular oxygen, as a green oxidant. Different experimental conditions such as oxygen pressure, reaction time, reaction temperature and amount of catalyst were investigated in this...