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Nanoparticles as Partners in Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Boosting the Surface Reactivity of Inorganic Nanoparticles

Objective

Associating bulky and strong Lewis acid and base creates a Frustrated Lewis Pair (FLP). Traditionally, both FLP partners are molecules. Molecular FLPs have shown excellent abilities to catch and dissociate small molecules such as H2 in a heterolytic way, under mild conditions. The driving force is the destabilization of the initial acid-base adduct, sterically frustrated: it liberates a reactive pocket that catches the small molecule guest, and strongly lowers the activation energy for bond dissociation.
The pristine and challenging concept of NanoFLP consists in replacing one of the molecular FLP partner, either the acid or the base, by an inorganic nanoparticle: the other molecular partner will adsorb on the surface and boosts the reactivity of the nanoparticle by creating a frustrated active site.
I will demonstrate the versatility of NanoFLPs with three families of inorganic nanoparticles (metals, acidic oxides, basic oxides), illustrating the two schemes: nanoparticle is either the Lewis acid or the Lewis base. I will use probe molecules (CO2, H2, SO2 and N2O) to investigate the nature and reactivity of the active sites. All reactions should be achieved under much milder conditions (rt.-150 °C, 1-3 bars) than those required using similar nanoparticles in the absence of the molecular partner.
I will fully describe the nanoparticle surface and the dynamics of the molecular partner using benchtop and synchrotron spectroscopies with in situ cells: infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance in solution, X-ray absorption and near-ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
In the last stage of the project, I will take advantage of the several active sites that one nanoparticle can bear to achieve combined reactions of two small molecules (reactants) on a single NanoFLP.
NanoFLP proposes a new type of active site for utilizing small molecules as sources of C, N, S and O. It will open an avenue in the design of reactive interfaces, eg. for catalysis and sensors.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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ERC-STG - Starting Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-STG

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Host institution

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 499 875,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 499 875,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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