Catalytic methane dehydroaromatization and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formation on grain surface reaction studies using time of flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

This thesis reports studies of methane dehydro-aromatization (MDA) over Zn-based/HZSM-5 catalysts and the catalytic conversion of acetylene gas (C2H2) on grain surface reactions using time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). Both catalytic reactions generate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as their final products. For the MDA reaction, the performance of Zn-based/HZSM-5 catalysts prepared by wet impregnation method was investigated under the conditions of atmospheric pressure and supersonic jet expansion (SJE). The experimental results revealed that, under the SJE condition, the Zn/HZSM-5 catalysts exhibited high catalytic activity. It was also found that because of the rapid migration of H+ ions on the catalyst, the activation of CH4 at active sites of nano-ZnO is facile. A new reaction mechanism involving an active “ZnO-CH3+...-H-ZnO” intermediate formed as a result of synergetic action between ZnO and HZSM-5 has been proposed for the dissociation of methane and dehydrogenation. However, under atmospheric pressure, the catalytic activity of the Zn/HZSM-5 catalysts was low. The physical properties of the catalyst were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), temperature-programmed reduction of H2 (H2-TPR), temperature -programmed desorption of NH3 (NH3-TPD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric (TG/ DTG), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques.

For the catalytic conversion reaction of acetylene gas to form PAHs, the grains used were olivine and pyroxene-type silicates as well as alumina. Gas-phase PAHs were produced by the catalytic reaction of acetylene over crystalline silicates and alumina in a pulsed jet expansion condition and the gaseous products detected using time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (TOF-MS). In a separate experiment, further confirmation of the catalytic conversion of PAHs was obtained with the acetylene gas at atmospheric pressure flowing continuously through a fixed-bed reactor. The gas effluent and carbonaceous compounds deposited on the catalysts were dissolved separately in dichloromethane and analyzed using gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Amongst the samples studied, alumina showed higher activity than the olivine and pyroxene-type silicates grains. A mechanism for PAH formation is proposed in which the Mg2+ in silicates and Al3+ ions in Al2O3 act as Lewis acid sites for the acetylene reactions. Experimental investigation indicated that these silicates and Al2O3 particles are capable of providing catalytic centers for adsorption and activation of acetylene molecules that are present in the circumstellar environments of mass-losing carbon stars. The structure and physical properties of the particles were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques.