Improvements to current catalyst technologies are required to produce biofuels at a cost that is competitive with fossil fuels. Understanding the physical and chemical properties that control catalyst performance (i.e. activity, selectivity, and durability) is critical information needed to develop synthetic methods for producing better-performing catalysts. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a catalyst characterization technique that can provide insight into physical and chemical properties such as geometric and/or electronic structure, respectively, of a catalyst that influence its performance. As an enabling technology of the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium (ChemCatBio), XAS is being employed to accelerate catalyst development for a number of process technologies including catalytic fast pyrolysis and catalytic upgrading of C1 and C2 alcohols to produce gasoline and diesel/jet fuels.  Combining the results from XAS with results from other characterization techniques, such as electron microscopy and infrared/Raman spectroscopy, coupled with advanced synthesis methods is helping to facilitate the development of next generation catalysts. In this presentation, we will present results from XAS studies on beta zeolite-supported metal catalysts for the conversion of methanol to high-octane gasoline (collaboration with NREL) and ethanol to C<sub>3</sub>-C<sub>6</sub> olefins (collaboration with ORNL) and discuss how these results are enabling the development of better catalysts. A brief perspective will also be given on potential new applications of advanced XAS techniques for accelerating catalyst development.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy as a tool for accelerating catalyst development for biofuel production

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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