Pure Appl. Chem., 2006, Vol. 78, No. 6, pp. 1227-1238
doi:10.1351/pac200678061227
Plasma application for more environmentally friendly catalyst preparation*
Chang-jun Liu1, Jijun Zou1, Kailu Yu1, Dangguo Cheng1, You Han1, Jason Zhan2, Chalita Ratanatawanate2, and Ben W.-L. Jang2
1Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; 2Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University-Commerce, P.O. Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429-3011, USA
Abstract:
The present status of catalyst preparation using nonthermal plasma treatment has been summarized in this paper. Improved dispersion, better low-temperature activity, enhanced stability, and better anti-carbon deposition performance can be achieved with nonthermal plasma-treated catalysts. The improvement in catalyst preparation with nonthermal plasma treatment can reduce or avoid the use of hazardous chemicals. Nonthermal plasma catalyst treatment has especially induced a new development of nonthermal plasma for catalyst reduction. The reduction using hydrogen at high temperatures or using hazardous liquid chemicals can be replaced by the developed plasma reduction process. The mechanism for nonthermal plasma treatment has been presented. An analog between the man-made gas discharge plasmas and the environment inside the zeolite pores and around catalyst surface defects is also proposed.
Keywords: catalysts; cold plasmas; gas discharge; nonthermal plasmas; plasma synthesis; preparation; treatment.
*Paper presented at the 17th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry (ISPC 17), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 7-12 August 2005. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1093-1298.