Recently, the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering of SIT has made a breakthrough in the field of catalytic conversion of synthetic gas. A research paper named “Enhanced Proximity of Rh1,2-Rhn Esembles Encaged in UiO-67 Boosting Catalytic Conversion of Syngas to Oxygenates” was published in Angewandte Chemie, an authoritative journal in the field of chemistry (Top Journal of Chemical Science Region 1, IF=16.6). The first unit of the paper is Shanghai Institute of Technology. Associate Professor Yu Jun, a teacher from the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at SIT, is the first author of the paper. Professor Mao Dongsen, Associate Professor Wu Xinping from East China University of Science and Technology, and Associate Researcher Yang Bing from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences are co corresponding authors.

The catalytic conversion of syngas (CO+H2) to CO2 and above (C2+) oxygen-containing compounds, mainly ethanol, is one of the important ways for the clean and efficient utilization of non petroleum resources, which can ensure the diversification of energy and chemical raw material sources. This work encapsulates single metal Rh using the Zr based metal organic framework material UiO-67 as the carrier. Under the dual effects of UiO-67 spatial confinement effect and coordination unsaturated Zr metal nodes, the Rh catalyst (Rh/UiO-67) encapsulated in the UiO-67 pore cage forms a dynamically stable Rh single/double atom cluster combination (Rh1,2-Rhn) dual site active structure in the neighborhood space. Under the reaction conditions of 300 oC and 3 MPa, the CO conversion rate of Rh/UiO-67 reached 50.4%, and the selectivity of oxygen-containing compounds reached 72.0%; For the first time, the one-way yield of C2+oxygen-containing compounds exceeded 25%, surpassing all reported Rh based catalysts, and the reaction performance was stable.

This work has achieved efficient synthesis of C2+oxygen-containing compounds using a single metal Rh catalyst for the first time, revealing the dynamic stability and synergistic catalytic effect of the near ortho Rh1,2-Rhn dual active centers, opening up a new path for designing efficient Rh catalysts for syngas conversion.

Source: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering