Ultrasonically assisted surface modified CeO2 nanospindle catalysts for conversion of CO2 and methanol to DMC

Tachatad Kulthananat; Pattaraporn Kim-Lohsoontorn; Panpailin Seeharaj

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106164

Ultrasonically assisted surface modified CeO₂ nanospindle catalysts for conversion of CO₂ and methanol to DMC

Ultrason Sonochem. 2022 Nov:90:106164. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106164. Epub 2022 Sep 13.

Authors

Tachatad Kulthananat¹, Pattaraporn Kim-Lohsoontorn², Panpailin Seeharaj³

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Materials Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand.
² Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
³ Advanced Materials Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand. Electronic address: panpailin.se@kmitl.ac.th.

Abstract

This study developed a facile and effective approach to engineer the surface properties of cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanospindle catalysts for the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO₂ and methanol. CeO₂ nanospindles were first prepared by a simple precipitation method followed by wet chemical redox etching with sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) under high intensity ultrasonication (ultrasonic horn, 20 kHz, 150 W/cm²). The ultrasonically assisted surface modification of the CeO₂ nanospindles in NaBH₄ led to particle collisions and surface reduction that resulted in an increase in the number of surface-active sites of exposed Ce³⁺ and oxygen vacancies. The surface modified CeO₂ nanospindles showed an improvement of catalytic activity for DMC formation, yielding 17.90 mmol·g_cat^-1 with 100 % DMC selectivity. This study offers a simple and effective method to modify a CeO₂ surface, and it can further be applied for other chemical activities.

Keywords: CeO(2) catalyst; Chemical redox etching; Sonochemistry; Surface modification.

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide* / chemistry
Catalysis
Formates
Methanol* / chemistry

Substances

methyl carbonate
Methanol
Carbon Dioxide
Formates