Engineering Biologically Inspired Enzymatic Analogs: A New Class of Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Nanocatalysts

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to develop more active and selective catalysts by integrating the inherent strengths of biological and synthetic catalyst characteristics while reducing their weaknesses. Methods/Materials To accomplish this, we developed methods to (1) synthesize and improve an organic support, (2) impregnate metal nanoparticles onto a microporous polymer organic framework support, (3) utilize spectroscopic methods to probe ligand removal and catalytic activity, and (4) overcoat the metal with an additional layer of the same organic framework to better replicate enzymatic machinery. Results The results show that a viable polymer organic framework with the critical features of thermal stability (up to 400 °C), high surface area (754 m^2/g), and microporosity (6 Å) was synthesized. Transmission electron microscopy was used to demonstrate that nanoparticles were evenly distributed onto the surface of the polymer with size 7.3 ± 1 nanometers. The optimal thermal pretreatment (300 °C for 20 minutes) was found to remove ligands, which block catalytic activity, from the surface of nanoparticles. Catalytic activity was measured using infrared spectroscopy, which revealed approximately 100% conversion of CO to CO(2) by 250 °C. This reveals that a fully functional hybrid organic/inorganic catalyst has been successfully developed. Finally, the catalyst was encapsulated by another layer of polymer. The encapsulated catalyst was able to maintain its structure, increase surface area (913 m^2/g), and regrow 6 Å micropores which were destroyed from the thermal pretreatment. The encapsulated catalyst showed increased efficiency in catalytic testing, reaching 100% conversion by 220 °C. Conclusions/Discussion Therefore, this project reveals the development of a functional, selective, and active hybrid organic/inorganic nanocatalyst which takes advantage of the inherent strengths of both biological and synthetic catalysts while reducing their weaknesses. It also presents a method to develop more active and selective materials by following the inspiration of enzymatic machineries with the potential to increase efficiency in important chemical reactions such as methane partial oxidation and carbon dioxide hydrogenation.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Chemistry · Entry S0622

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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