Instead of reacting together on the surface of the catalyst (the palladium cluster), the hydrogen atoms dissociate into their components–protons and electrons. The protons enter the surrounding solution of water and methanol, while the electrons flow through the palladium itself into oxygen molecules. Credit: American Chemical Society.
From the polyurethane that makes our car seats to the paper made from bleached wood pulp, chlorine can be found in a variety of large-scale manufacturing processes. But while chlorine is good at activating the strong bonds of molecules, which allows manufacturers to synthesize the products we use on a daily basis, it can be an insidious chemical, sometimes escaping into the environment as hazardous byproducts such as chloroform and dioxin.
As a result, scientists and companies have been exploring a more environmentally benign alternative to chlorine—hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2. But it is an expensive reactant. Hydrogen peroxide is typically made in big, centralized facilities and requires significant energy for separation, concentration, and transportation. A handful of large-scale facilities around the globe have begun to produce H2O2 using the current process, but at the same facilities as the polyurethane precursors, which results in significant cost and energy savings and reduces environmental impact. Ideally smaller-scale factories would also be able to make hydrogen peroxide on site, but this would require a completely different set of chemistry, direct synthesis of H2O2 from hydrogen and oxygen gas, which has long been poorly understood according to University of Illinois researchers.
New research from David Flaherty, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and graduate student Neil Wilson reveals the mechanism for the direct synthesis of H2O2 on palladium cluster catalysts, and paves the way to design improved catalysts to produce H2O2 to use in place of harmful chlorine, regardless of the scale of the production facility. The research appears as the cover story for the Jan. 20, 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The commonly accepted mechanism for direct synthesis of H2O2 essentially states that hydrogen and oxygen atoms bind adjacent to one another on the catalyst surface and then react, Wilson said. To better understand what was going on, he spent over a year building a reactor, fine-tuning experimental procedures, then collecting and analyzing reaction rate data.
“What people thought was happening is after the hydrogen atoms broke apart and they’re adsorbed onto the palladium surface, that they just reacted with the oxygen on the surface. But that’s not really consistent with what we saw,” said Wilson, a fourth-year graduate student in Flaherty’s lab and first author of the article, “Mechanism for the Direct Synthesis of H2O2 on Pd Clusters: Heterolytic Reaction Pathways at the Liquid–Solid Interface.”
Featured on the journal’s cover is an image that depicts their findings: Instead of reacting together on the surface of the catalyst (the palladium cluster), the hydrogen atoms dissociate into their components—protons and electrons. The protons enter the surrounding solution of water and methanol, while the electrons flow through the palladium itself into oxygen molecules.
“When oxygen comes down onto the surface, it can react with pairs of protons and electrons to form hydrogen peroxide,” Wilson said.
“The reason this is critical,” Flaherty said, “is because it gives us guidance for how to make the next generation of these materials. This is all motivated by trying to make hydrogen peroxide more cheaply so it can be manufactured more easily, so we can use it in place of chlorine. But we didn’t know how to go about making a catalyst that was better than what we have now.”
Read more: Research reveals mechanism for direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide
The Latest on: Hydrogen peroxide as an alternative to chlorine
via Google News
The Latest on: Hydrogen peroxide as an alternative to chlorine
- Chemours announces participation in Versogen’s development of clean hydrogen technologyon May 12, 2022 at 7:29 am
The Chemours Company (Wilmington, Del.) announced its participation in a fundraising for Wilmington, Delaware-based Versogen Inc., a leader in developing ...
- Hydrogen refuellers to support ZeroAvia’s US flight-test programmeon May 10, 2022 at 12:09 am
Hydrogen-electric propulsion specialist ZeroAvia is co-operating with Shell affiliates which will design and construct commercial-scale mobile refuellers for the company's California test facility.
- Craig D. Adams, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCEon May 9, 2022 at 2:14 pm
(2013) “Monitoring Free Chlorine and Free Bromine in Aquarium Seawater Treated ... “Oxidation Kinetics of Two Pesticides in Natural Waters by Ozonation and Ozone Combined with Hydrogen Peroxide,” ...
- Lhyfe launches IPO with aims to become one of Europe’s leaders in green hydrogenon May 9, 2022 at 3:49 am
Lhyfe has officially launched its initial public offering (IPO) today (May 9) to support the development of the company’s green hydrogen production technology and ambitions. The capital increase has ...
- A ‘greener’ way to clean wastewater treatment filterson May 8, 2022 at 11:54 pm
Specific nanoparticles are better than other methods at breaking down common contaminants. MEMBRANE filters don’t require much energy to purify water, making them popular for wastewater treatment. To ...
- The Future Of Hydrogen Power… Is Paste?on May 8, 2022 at 5:00 pm
We’ve been promised hydrogen-powered engines for some time now. One downside though is the need for hydrogen vehicles to have heavy high-pressure tanks. While a 700 bar tank and the accompanying ...
- Where to buy hydrogen peroxide in bulk in canada?on May 7, 2022 at 3:22 am
Hydrogen peroxide can be incompatible with other alcohol cleaners (aka dry alcohol cleaners) with fruity compounds. In total, depending on your personal preferences, start using hydrogen peroxide with ...
- Study suggests solar energy can be cleanly converted into storable hydrogen fuelon May 5, 2022 at 5:23 am
Research led by the University of Strathclyde suggests that solar energy can be accessed and converted into hydrogen—a clean and renewable fuel.
- Air Products to take the lead on Port of Rotterdam hydrogen refuelling stationon May 4, 2022 at 2:55 am
Hydrogen is a clean, viable alternative to diesel for freight transport. “I am delighted that Air Products is taking the lead in this respect by commissioning the first hydrogen filling station for ...
- Blue Hydrogen Market Size to Reach USD 3.…on May 2, 2022 at 8:14 am
Rising investment in research & development of cleaner energy alternatives is an important factor expected to increase demand for blue hydrogen. Rapid increase in pollution due to burning of fossil ...
via Bing News