PNNL

Abstract

A prototype high throughput operando reactor, that integrates FT-IR imaging for rapid reaction product analysis and parallel Raman imaging for catalyst characterization, has been designed to accelerate catalyst discovery and, concurrently, fundamental research toward reliable correlations between catalyst active sites and catalyst performance for at-line real catalytic conditions. This reactor, consisting of six parallel reaction channels, is demonstrated for methanol oxidation using silica supported vanadium oxide catalysts at various reaction conditions. The results of semi-quantitative analysis of a large array of operando Raman scattering bands, specifically for C-H bonds in Si-OCH3 and V-OCH3 surface intermediates, obtained simultaneously on multiple catalyst surfaces with a time resolution of 60s for each set at different temperatures, reveal for the first time methanol activation at surface vanadium oxide cluster edge on silica support at lower reaction temperatures,