Scale-Up of Cluster Beam Deposition to the Gram Scale with the Matrix Assembly Cluster Source for Heterogeneous Catalysis (Catalytic Ozonation of Nitrophenol in Aqueous Solution)

Rongsheng Cai; Francesca Martelli; Jerome Vernieres; Stefania Albonetti; Nikolaos Dimitratos; Chedly Tizaoui; Richard E Palmer

doi:10.1021/acsami.0c05955

Scale-Up of Cluster Beam Deposition to the Gram Scale with the Matrix Assembly Cluster Source for Heterogeneous Catalysis (Catalytic Ozonation of Nitrophenol in Aqueous Solution)

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Jun 3;12(22):24877-24882. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c05955. Epub 2020 May 22.

Authors

Rongsheng Cai¹, Francesca Martelli², Jerome Vernieres¹, Stefania Albonetti², Nikolaos Dimitratos², Chedly Tizaoui¹, Richard E Palmer¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Engineering, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Fabian Way, SwanseaSA1 8EN, U.K.
² Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari", Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 4, 40136 Bologna, Italy.

PMID: 32391685
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c05955

Abstract

The deposition of precisely controlled clusters from the beam onto suitable supports represents a novel method to prepare advanced cluster-based catalysts. In principle, cluster size, composition, and morphology can be tuned or selected prior to deposition. The newly invented matrix assembly cluster source (MACS) offers one solution to the long-standing problem of low cluster deposition rate. Demonstrations of the cluster activities under realistic reaction conditions are now needed. We deposited elemental silver (Ag) and gold (Au) clusters onto gram-scale powders of commercial titanium dioxide (TiO₂) to investigate the catalytic oxidation of nitrophenol (a representative pollutant in water) by ozone in aqueous solution, as relevant to the removal of waste drugs from the water supply. A range of techniques, including scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area test, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), were employed to reveal the catalyst size, morphology, surface area, and oxidation state. Both the Ag and Au cluster catalysts proved active for the nitrophenol ozonation. The cluster catalysts showed activities at least comparable to those of catalysts made by traditional chemical methods in the literature, demonstrating the potential applications of the cluster beam deposition method for practical heterogeneous catalysis in solution.

Keywords: cluster beam deposition; heterogeneous catalysis; matrix assembly cluster source (MACS); metal clusters; nitrophenol ozonation; scale-up; titanium dioxide powder; water treatment.