Browsing by Author "Say, Zafer"

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    Ceria promoted NOx storage and reduction materials
    (2011) Say, Zafer
    In the current work, the effect of CeO2 promotion on the NOx storage materials and NOx storage-reduction (NSR) catalysts is studied. Synthesized materials were prepared using different baria and ceria loadings in order to investigate the influence of the surface composition on the NOx storage process. Synthesized materials were also thermally treated in the temperature range within 300 - 1273 K to mimic the thermal aging effects on the material structure. Structural properties of the synthesized materials were investigated via spectroscopic and diffraction techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and BET (Brunauer, Emmett, ve Teller) surface area analysis. These ex-situ characterization studies revealed that materials containing Pt showed indications of sintering after thermal treatment at elevated temperatures where Pt sites grew in size and were partially covered by BaO domains. Pt addition to the BaO/Al2O3 system facilitated the formation of the undesired BaAl2O4 phase, particularly at high baria loadings. Decomposition of the Ba(NO3)2 species took place at lower temperatures for Pt containing materials. An indication for a strong-metal-support interaction (SMSI) between Pt and CeO2 sites was observed in Raman spectroscopic data, resulting in the formation of a new mixed oxide phase on the surface. BET results indicated that the specific surface area (SSA) of the synthesized materials monotonically decreased with increasing temperature and increasing BaO and CeO2 loadings. The behavior of the synthesized materials in NOx and SOx adsorption experiments were also investigated via temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and in-situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Ceria promotion had no significant influence on the nature of the adsorbed nitrate species and the NOx uptake ability of the alumina support material. On the other hand, addition of Pt to CeO2/Al2O3 binary and BaO/CeO2/Al2O3 ternary systems was observed to enhance the NOx storage. For the ternary mixed oxide NOx storage systems (BaO/CeO2/Al2O3), increasing BaO or CeO2 loadings results in a decrease in the specific surface area values, which in turn leads to decreasing NOx uptake. SO2 (g) + O2 (g) interaction with a selected set of samples were also investigated via in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. These experiments reveal that ceria promotion and platinum addition assisted the formation of surface sulfate species. Furthermore, the presence of ceria also resulted in a decrease in the thermal stability of sulfates and enabled easier regeneration.
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    Dry reforming of glycerol over Rh-based ceria and zirconia catalysts: New insights on catalyst activity and stability
    (Elsevier B.V., 2018) Bulutoğlu, P. S.; Say, Zafer; Bac, S.; Özensoy, Emrah; Avcı, A. K.
    Effects of reaction temperature and feed composition on reactant conversion, product distribution and catalytic stability were investigated on syngas production by reforming of glycerol, a renewable waste, with CO2 on Rh/ZrO2 and Rh/CeO2 catalysts. For the first time in the literature, fresh and spent catalysts were characterized by in-situ FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis techniques in order to unravel novel insights regarding the molecular-level origins of catalytic deactivation and aging under the conditions of glycerol dry reforming. Both catalysts revealed increased glycerol conversions with increasing temperature, where the magnitude of response became particularly notable above 650 and 700 °C on Rh/ZrO2 and Rh/CeO2, respectively. In accordance with thermodynamic predictions, CO2 transformation occurred only above 700 °C. Syngas was obtained at H2/CO ∼0.8, very close to the ideal composition for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and carbon formation was minimized with increasing temperature. Glycerol conversion decreased monotonically, whereas, after an initial increase, CO2 conversion remained constant upon increasing CO2/glycerol ratio (CO2/G) from 1 to 4. In alignment with the slightly higher specific surface area of and smaller average Rh-particle size on ZrO2, Rh/ZrO2 exhibited higher conversions and syngas yields than that of Rh/CeO2. Current characterization studies indicated that Rh/CeO2 revealed strong metal-support interaction, through which CeO2 seemed to encapsulate Rh nanoparticles and partially suppressed the catalytic activity of Rh sites. However, such interactions also seemed to improve the stability of Rh/CeO2, rendering its activity loss to stay below that of Rh/ZrO2 after 72 h time-on-stream testing at 750 °C and for CO2/G = 4. Enhanced stability in the presence of CeO2 was associated with the inhibition of coking of the catalyst surface by the mobile oxygen species and creation of oxygen vacancies on ceria domains. Deactivation of Rh/ZrO2 was attributed to the sintering of Rh nanoparticles and carbon formation.
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    Exceptionally active and stable catalysts for CO2 reforming of glycerol to syngas
    (Elsevier, 2019) Bac, S.; Say, Zafer; Koçak, Yusuf; Ercan, Kerem E.; Harfouche, M.; Özensoy, Emrah; Avcı, A. K.
    CO2 reforming of glycerol to syngas was studied on Al2O3-ZrO2-TiO2 (AZT) supported Rh, Ni and Co catalysts within 600–750 °C and a molar inlet CO2/glycerol ratio (CO2/G) of 1–4. Glycerol and CO2 conversions decreased in the following order: Rh/AZT > Ni/AZT > Co/AZT. Reactant conversions on Rh/AZT exceeded 90% of their thermodynamic counterparts at 750 °C and CO2/G = 2–4 at which the activity of Ni/AZT was boosted to ˜95% of the thermodynamic CO2 conversion upon increasing the residence time. The loss in CO2 conversions was below 13% during the 72 h longevity tests confirming the exceptional stability of Rh/AZT and Ni/AZT. However, Co/ AZT suffered from sintering, carbon deposition and oxidation of Co sites, demonstrated via TEM-EDX, XPS, XANES and in-situ FTIR experiments. Characterization of Rh/AZT revealed no significant signs of deactivation. Ni/AZT preserved most of its original metallic pattern and gasified carbonaceous deposits during earlier stages of the reaction
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    A highly active and stable Ru catalyst for syngas production via glycerol dry reforming: Unraveling the interplay between support material and the active sites
    (Elsevier, 2022-04-25) Ozden, M.; Say, Zafer; Kocak, Yusuf; Ercan, Kerem Emre; Jalal, Ahsan; Ozensoy, Emrah; Avci, A. K.
    Glycerol dry reforming (GDR) was studied on Ru/La2O3, Ru/ZrO2, and Ru/La2O3–ZrO2 catalysts. Impacts of the support on morphological, electronic and surface chemical properties of the catalysts were comprehensively characterized by TEM, in–situ DRIFTS, XPS, ATR–IR and XRD. Initial (5 h) CO2 conversion at 750 °C and CO2–to–glycerol ratio of 1–4 was ordered as Ru/La2O3 < Ru/ZrO2 < Ru/La2O3–ZrO2. During 72 h stability tests, Ru/ZrO2 deactivated by ~33% due to Ru sintering, structural deformation of the monoclinic zirconia support, and strong metal–support interaction. Under identical conditions, CO2 conversion on Ru/La2O3 decreased by 27% mainly due to dehydroxylation/carbonation of lanthana and severe coking. Lanthana–stabilized tetragonal zirconia phase of Ru/La2O3–ZrO2 led to finely dispersed small oxidic Ru clusters which deactivated by 15% after 72 h and demonstrated unusually high catalytic performance that was on par with the significantly more expensive Rh–based catalysts, which are known with their exceptional activity and stability in GDR.
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    Investigation of NO2 and SO2 adsorption/desorption properties of advanced ternary and quaternary mixed oxides for DENOx catalysis
    (2015-11) Say, Zafer
    The main premise of the current study is the design, synthesis and functional characterization of novel catalytic materials with superior resistance against sulfur poisoning without compromising NOx storage capacity (NSC) in their NOx Storage Reduction (NSR) catalytic applications. BaO/TiO2-based materials are well known systems in deNOx catalysis, exhibiting promising performance towards sulfur poisoning. However, they suffer from limitations due to poor NSC and high affinity towards unwanted solid state interactionsbetweenTiO2 and BaO storage domains leading to the formation of BaTiOx.The main emphasis of the current work is the design of a novel catalytic system where ZrO2 and Al2O3 act as diffusion barriers between BaO and TiO2 domains while allowing good dispersion and preservation of the individual characteristicsof these active sites within a wide operational temperature window. Along these lines, binary and ternary mixed oxide materials, ZrO2/TiO2 (ZT) and Al2O3/ZrO2/TiO2 (AZT), and their Pt, BaO and/or K2O functionalized counterparts in the form of Pt/ZT, Pt/AZT, Pt/BaO/AZT, Pt/K2O/AZT and Pt/K2O-BaO/AZT with different mass loadings (i.e. 8 and 20 wt. % 20 BaO and 2.7, 5.4 and 10 wt. % K2O) were synthesized via sol-gel synthesis. Surface structure and catalytic properties of the synthesized materials were comprehensively investigated at the molecular level as a function of calcination temperature, catalyst composition, nature of the gas phase adsorbates (e.g. NO2, SO2, O2, H2, N2, N2O C5H5N etc.) interacting with the catalyst surface at various operational temperatures by means of XRD, Raman spectroscopy, BET analysis, in-situ FTIR and TPD. Current results indicate no evidence for the formation of undesired BaTiOx and/or KTiOx. NSC of fresh monolithic catalysts was also quantitatively measured under realistic operational conditions in a tubular flow reactor system. These flow reactor measurements indicated that Pt/8BaO/AZT and Pt/20BaO/AZT materials revealed promising NOx storage and sulfur regeneration performance at low (i.e. 473 K) and moderate (i.e. 573 K) temperatures in comparison to the conventional Pt/20Ba/Al2O3 benchmark catalyst. However, they were found to be surpassed by the conventional Pt/20BaO/Al2O3 benchmark catalyst at higher operational temperatures (i.e. 673 K). Therefore, activity loss at high temperatures was alleviated by incorporating a high-temperature storage functionality (i.e. K2O) to the catalyst structure. Upon this structural enhancement, Pt/5.4K2O/AZT catalyst was found to reveal much higher NSC at high temperatures (i.e. 673 K) as compared to BaO-based materials. An overall assessment of the results presented in the current study suggests that there exists a delicate trade-off between NOx Storage Capacity (NSC) and sulfur uptake/poisoning in NSR systems which is strongly governed by the BaO and K2O loading/dispersion as well as the surface structure of the support material.
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    Trade-off between NOx storage capacity and sulfur tolerance on Al2O3/ZrO2/TiO2–based DeNOx catalysts
    (Elsevier, 2019) Say, Zafer; Mihai, O.; Kurt, Merve; Olsson, L.; Özensoy, Emrah
    Al2O3/ZrO2/TiO2 (AZT) ternary mixed oxides functionalized with Pt and BaO were synthesized in powder and monolithic forms and were utilized in NOx Storage Reduction/Lean NOx Trap (NSR/LNT) catalysis as novel catalytic materials. Adsorption of NOx and SOx species and their interactions with the catalyst surfaces were systematically investigated via in-situ FTIR technique revealing different NOx coordination geometries governed by the presence and the loading of BaO in the powder catalyst formulation. While BaO-free Pt/AZT stored NOx as surface nitrates, BaO incorporation also led to the formation of bulk-like ionic nitrate species. NOx adsorption results obtained from the current Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) data indicated that NOx Storage Capacity (NSC) was enhanced due to BaO incorporation into the powder catalyst and NSC was found to increase in the following order: Pt/AZT < Pt/8BaO/AZT < Pt/20BaO/Al2O3 < Pt/20BaO/AZT. Increase in the NSC with increasing BaO loading was found to be at the expense of the formation of bulk-like sulfates after SOx exposures. These bulk-like sulfates were observed to require higher temperatures for complete regeneration with H2(g). Catalytic activity results at 473 K and 573 K obtained via flow reactor tests with monolithic catalysts suggested that Pt/AZT and Pt/8BaO/AZT catalysts with stronger surface acidity also revealed higher resistance against sulfur poisoning and superior SOx regeneration in spite of their relatively lower NSC. Monolithic Pt/ 20BaO/AZT catalyst revealed superior NSC with respect to the conventional Pt/20BaO/Al2O3 benchmark catalyst at 573 K after sulfur regeneration. On the other hand, this trend was reversed at high-temperatures (i.e. 673 K). Preliminary results were presented demonstrating the enhancement of the high-temperature NSC of AZTbased materials by exploiting multiple NOx-storage components where BaO functioned as the low/mid-temperature NOx-storage domain and K2O served as the high-temperature NOx storage domain. Enhancement in the high-temperature NOx-storage in the BaO-K2O multiple storage domain systems was attributed to the formation of additional thermally stable bulk-like nitrates upon K2O incorporation.
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    Unraveling molecular fingerprints of catalytic sulfur poisoning at the nanometer scale with near-field infrared spectroscopy
    (American Chemical Society, 2022-04-29) Say, Zafer; Kaya, Melike; Kaderoǧlu, Çağıl; Koçak, Yusuf; Ercan, Kerem Emre; Sika-Nartey, Abel Tetteh; Jalal, Ahsan; Türk, Ahmet Arda; Langhammer, Christoph; Jahangirzadeh Varjovi, Mirali; Durgun, Engin; Özensoy, Emrah
    Fundamental understanding of catalytic deactivation phenomena such as sulfur poisoning occurring on metal/metal-oxide interfaces is essential for the development of high-performance heterogeneous catalysts with extended lifetimes. Unambiguous identification of catalytic poisoning species requires experimental methods simultaneously delivering accurate information regarding adsorption sites and adsorption geometries of adsorbates with nanometer-scale spatial resolution, as well as their detailed chemical structure and surface functional groups. However, to date, it has not been possible to study catalytic sulfur poisoning of metal/metal-oxide interfaces at the nanometer scale without sacrificing chemical definition. Here, we demonstrate that near-field nano-infrared spectroscopy can effectively identify the chemical nature, adsorption sites, and adsorption geometries of sulfur-based catalytic poisons on a Pd(nanodisk)/Al2O3 (thin-film) planar model catalyst surface at the nanometer scale. The current results reveal striking variations in the nature of sulfate species from one nanoparticle to another, vast alterations of sulfur poisoning on a single Pd nanoparticle as well as at the assortment of sulfate species at the active metal-metal-oxide support interfacial sites. These findings provide critical molecular-level insights crucial for the development of long-lifetime precious metal catalysts resistant toward deactivation by sulfur. ©