The chemical industry has been identified as one of the most inefficient sectors by the Department of Energy, which can be addressed with new catalyst designs. Current efforts attempt to design catalysts that lower the overall activation energy or use electrochemical or photochemical sources to drive reactions. Despite the impressive thermal engineering, conventional heating methods are limited by heat transport resistances, which can be solved with direct catalyst heating. One such example of direct heating is magnetic hyperthermia of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Using radio waves (RF), heat is generated locally within the magnetically susceptible particle. RF heating has the potential to reduce heat transfer loses by locating the heat generation at the nanoparticle surface. Additionally, the increased heat transfer efficiency has the potential to have a positive effect on yield and selectivity by minimizing the temperature gradient across the catalysis. In this work, hollow microspheres composed of ~23 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles are synthesized, and 1 wt% palladium is deposited on the catalyst surface. The microspheres are placed in an RF field where the Fe3O4 particles generate heat, which is then transferred to the palladium. Chemisorption measurements have estimated palladium dispersion of 15%, a particle size of 8 nm. SLP experiments have shown that the catalysis can heat the bulk solution to 170°C. Utilizing the hydrogenation of oleic acid and the tuning of catalytic parameters, the mechanism of RF heating is explored and compared to conventional methods by quantifying selectivity and yield.

Catalytic hydrogenation of oleic acid by RF heating via magnetically susceptible nanoparticles

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.