TITLE:
Effect of Wetting on the Ability of Nanomaterials to Act as Effective Catalysts
AUTHORS:
Michael W. Cross, Walter J. Varhue, M. Ryan McDevitt, Darren L. Hitt
KEYWORDS:
Catalyst, Nanomaterial, Wetting
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.6 No.5,
November
23,
2016
ABSTRACT: The
ability of some nanostructured materials to perform as effective heterogeneous
catalysts is potentially hindered by the failure of the liquid reactant to
effectively wet the solid catalyst surface. In this work, two different chemical reactions, each involving a
change of phase from liquid to gas on a solid catalyst surface, are
investigated. The first reaction is the catalyzed decomposition of a H2O2 monopropellant within a micro-chemical reactor chamber, decorated with RuO2 nanorods (NRs). The second reaction involves the electrolysis of dilute aqueous
solutions of H2SO4 performed with the cathode electrode
coated with different densities and sizes of RuO2 NRs. In the
catalyzed H2O2 decomposition, the reaction rate is
observed to decrease with increasing catalyst surface density because of a
failure of the liquid to wet on the catalyst surface. In the electrolysis
experiment, however, the reaction rate increased in proportion to the surface
density of RuO2 NRs. In this case, the electrical bias applied to drive the
electrolysis reaction also causes an electrostatic force of attraction between
the fluid and the NR coated surface, and thus assures effective wetting.