High Throughput Synthesis and Screening of New Catalytic Materials for the Direct Epoxidation of Propylene

Nanoparticles of 35 individual metals as well as their binary combinations were synthesized using High Throughput pulsed laser ablation (PLA), and collected on Al2O3, CeO2, SiO2, TiO2, and ZrO2 pellets. These materials were then screened for their catalytic activities and selectivities for the partial oxidation of propylene, in particular for propylene oxide (PO), using array channel microreactors. Reaction conditions were the following: 1 atm pressure, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 20,000 h(-1), temperature 300 degrees C, 333 degrees C, and 367 degrees C, and feed gas composition 20 vol% O-2, 20 vol% C3H6 and balance He. Initial screening experiments resulted in the discovery of SiO2 supported Cr, Mn, Cu, Ru, Pd, Ag, Sn, and Ir as the most promising leads for PO synthesis. Subsequent experiments pointed to bimetallic Cu-on-Mn/SiO2, for which the PO yields increased several fold over single metal catalysts. For multimetallic materials, the sequence of deposition of the active metals was shown to have a significant effect on the resulting catalytic activity and selectivity.