Final Report Summary - ICKARUS (Intrinsic Catalytic Kinetics Analyzed and Reconciled with Industrial Conditions)
After two years of research efforts involving a number of complementary experimental and theoretical methods, we achieved the following three major results. First, we have determined that the highly-selective state of Pt-based bimetallic catalysts emerges as a result of blocking of certain non-selective catalytic sites by carbon deposits formed on the catalyst during the initial period of alkane dehydrogenation. Second, we elucidated a highly dynamic picture of the formation and segregation of Pt-M alloys on the catalytic surface (where M stands for either Ga, In, ar Sn), which is induced by switching between reductive and oxidative gas environments. The catalysts undergo such periodic changes of the gas environment during their industrial life-times whereby reductive periods of alkane dehydrogenation are interrupted by oxidative periods of catalyst regeneration via coke burn-off. Finally, as part of the ICKARUS project, we have deployed and validated a 3rd-generation Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) instrument used for advanced kinetic characterization of catalytic reactions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_analysis_of_products). The start-up of this cutting-edge facility within the European Research Area will have a lasting impact on the field of heterogeneous catalysis in Europe.
As a result of this IIF Marie Curie Fellowship, I have acquired multiple additional skills which made me a better scientist and improved my prospects as academic researcher. I have engaged in scientific collaboration with outstanding researchers in Belgium and throughout the globe, presented my work at international congresses, and published several peer-reviewed articles. Last but not least, I transferred some of my own skills to my colleagues at the host laboratory.