Tailored Macroporous Hydrogels With Catalytic Nanoparticles for Chemical Engineering Processes

用于化学工程过程的具有催化纳米颗粒的定制大孔水凝胶

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-04569
• 负责人: Virgilio, Nick
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: École Polytechnique de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=682841
• 关键词: Tailored; Macroporous; Hydrogels; Catalytic; Nanoparticles

Transition metal (gold, silver, etc.) nanoparticles (NPs) for heterogeneous catalysis have revealed a wide array of possibilities in the last 20 years. From water treatment applications (e.g. degradation of azo dyes and nitro compounds), to “greener” processes (e.g. the oxidation of alcohols, classically involving toxic compounds), and new synthesis pathways (e.g. aromatic amines for the pharmaceutical industry), NPs offer significant potential for chemical processes at mild conditions (room T and p, aqueous media). NPs come in various shapes, sizes, and compositions i.e. tunable reactivity , and are easy to synthesize. The successful integration of NPs in chemical engineering processes requires (1) preventing their agglomeration and coalescence to maintain reactivity, and (2) to design an efficient process allowing reuse and easy NPs separation.***Hydrogels can help achieve these goals since they efficiently entrap and inhibit NPs agglomeration, while allowing reactants and products diffusion to and from NPs surface due to their liquid-like diffusivity properties. However, the reactivity of hybrid gel-NPs materials is typically low due to diffusion-limited mass transfer. One way to significantly enhance mass transfer is to use macroporous hydrogels, which contain networks of interconnected pores (diam. > 50 nm, IUPAC) - the main challenges being to achieve precise control over pore size, distribution and interconnectivity, with the possibility of scaling up the fabrication process. ***Recently, we have developed a scalable method to synthesize macroporous gels from cocontinuous polymer blends, with a high level of control over the porosity features, and displaying enhanced mass transfer properties. The general goal of this program is to develop morphologically tailored, mechanically robust macroporous gels containing catalytic NPs, such as gold, at controlled loading and reactivity levels. Three specific objectives are proposed : (1) To quantify the impacts of polymer blend, porous polymer mold, and gel morphologies, on the catalytic and mechanical properties of NP-loaded macroporous gels, and to strengthen their mechanical properties; (2) to control the nucleation and growth of NPs in porous gels, to correlate their properties to reactivity and microstructure, and to extend synthesis to multicomponent/anisotropic NPs; (3) To quantify the flow properties and reaction yield in continuous flow conditions, as a function of microstructure. To realize this program, 3 PhD and 5 undergraduate student interns will be hired, working at the interface of polymer/gel processing, nanomaterials synthesis, and catalytic processes projects encompassing multiple aspects of chemical engineering. The long-term objective is to integrate these materials in continuous-flow and membrane reactors for the development of new catalytic, high performance chemical engineering processes.

过渡金属（金，银等）用于异质催化的纳米颗粒（NP）在过去20年中显示出各种可能性。从水处理应用（例如，偶氮染料和硝基化合物的降解），到“更绿”的过程（例如，醇的氧化，经典涉及有毒化合物的氧化）以及新的合成途径（例如，NPS用于制药行业），NPS为高度的条件提供了重要的化学物质（nps）。 NP具有各种形状，大小和组成，即可调反应性，并且易于合成。 NP在化学工程过程中的成功整合需要（1）防止其团聚和结合以维持反应性，并且（2）设计有效的过程，可以重新使用和易于分离。***水凝胶可以帮助实现这些目标，因为它们可以有效地捕集和抑制NP的凝聚力，同时允许反应物和产物从NPS散发出液体和产物，从而散布了液体和产物，并从NPS散布了液体。但是，由于限制的传质，杂化凝胶-NPS材料的反应性通常很低。显着增强传质的一种方法是使用大孔水凝胶，该水凝胶包含互连孔网络（直径> 50 nm，IUPAC） - 主要挑战是实现对孔径大小，分布和互连的精确控制，并具有扩大制造过程的可能性。 ***最近，我们开发了一种可扩展的方法，可以从共连接聚合物混合物中合成大孔凝胶，并具有对孔隙率特征的高度控制，并显示出增强的传质特性。该程序的一般目标是在受控的负载和反应性水平下开发含有催化NP的形态学量身定制的，机械稳健的大孔凝胶，例如金，例如金。提出了三个特定的目标：（1）量化聚合物混合物，多孔聚合物霉菌和凝胶形态的影响，对NP负载的大孔凝胶的催化和机械性能，并增强其机械性能； （2）控制多孔凝胶中NP的成核和生长，以将其特性与反应性和微观结构相关，并将合成扩展到多组分/各向异性NP； （3）在连续流条件下量化流量特性和反应产量，这是微观结构的函数。为了实现这一计划，将聘请3个博士学位和5个本科生实习生，在聚合物/凝胶加工，纳米材料合成和催化过程项目的界面上工作，这些项​​目包括化学工程的多个方面。长期目标是将这些材料整合到连续流和膜反应堆中，以开发新的催化高性能化学工程工艺。