Rietveld refinement of the mixed boracite Fe1.59Zn1.41B7O13Br

The structural characterization of the new iron–zinc hepta­borate bromide with composition Fe1.59Zn1.41B7O13Br, prepared by chemical transport is reported. A rigid-body model with constrained generalized coordinates was defined in order to hold the positions of the B atoms at reasonable inter­atomic distances that typically would reach unacceptable values because of the weak scattering power of boron. There are three independent sites for the B atoms of which two are tetra­hedrally coordinated. The bond-valence sum around the third B atom, located on a threefold rotation axis, was calculated considering two cases of coordination of boron with oxygens: trigonal-planar and tetrahedral. The contribution of the fourth O atom to the bond-valence sum was found to be only 0.06 v.u., indicating the presence of a very weak bond in the right position to have a distorted tetra­hedral coordination in favour of the trigonal-planar coordination for the third B atom. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to determinate the Fe/Zn ratio

Effect of the metal deposition order on structural, electronic and catalytic properties of tio2-supported bimetallic au-ag catalysts in 1-octanol selective oxidation

42-01-09/169/2021-4 CTQ2017-86170-RAu and Ag were deposited on TiO2 modified with Ce, La, Fe or Mg in order to obtain bimetallic catalysts to be used for liquid-phase oxidation of 1-octanol. The effects of the deposition order of gold and silver, and the nature of the support modifying additives and redox pretreatments on the catalytic properties of the bimetallic Au-Ag catalysts were studied. Catalysts were characterized by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption–desorption, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was found that pretreatments with hydrogen and oxygen at 300◦C significantly decreased the activity of AuAg catalysts (silver was deposited first) and had little effect on the catalytic properties of AgAu samples (gold was deposited first). The density functional theory method demonstrated that the adsorption energy of 1-octanol increased for all positively charged AuxAgyq (x + y = 10, with a charge of q = 0 or +1) clusters compared with the neutral counterparts. Lanthanum oxide was a very effective promoter for both monometallic and bimetallic gold and silver catalysts in the studied process.publishersversionpublishe

Effect of gold electronic state on the catalytic performance of nano gold catalysts in n-octanol oxidation

UIDB/50006/2020 project VIU-RSCBMT-65/2019 project 18-29-24037 (Russia) MINECO project CTQ2017-86170-R (Spain)This study aims to identify the role of the various electronic states of gold in the catalytic behavior of Au/MxOy/TiO2 (where MxOy are Fe2O3 or MgO) for the liquid phase oxidation of n-octanol, under mild conditions. For this purpose, Au/MxOy/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by deposition-precipitation with urea, varying the gold content (0.5 or 4 wt.%) and pretreatment conditions (H2 or O2), and characterized by low temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), scanning transmission electron microscopy-high angle annular dark field (STEM HAADF), diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared (DRIFT) spectroscopy of CO adsorption, temperature-programmable desorption (TPD) of ammonia and carbon dioxide, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Three states of gold were identified on the surface of the catalysts, Au0, Au1+ and Au3+, and their ratio determined the catalysts performance. Based on a comparison of catalytic and spectroscopic results, it may be concluded that Au+ was the active site state, while Au0 had negative effect, due to a partial blocking of Au0 by solvent. Au3+ also inhibited the oxidation process, due to the strong adsorption of the solvent and/or water formed during the reaction. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations confirmed these suggestions. The dependence of selectivity on the ratio of Brønsted acid centers to Brønsted basic centers was revealed.publishersversionpublishe

The discovery of Stromatolites developing at 3570 m above sea level in a high-altitude volcanic lake Socompa, Argentinean Andes

We describe stromatolites forming at an altitude of 3570 m at the shore of a volcanic lake Socompa, Argentinean Andes. The water at the site of stromatolites formation is alkaline, hypersaline, rich in inorganic nutrients, very rich in arsenic, and warm (20-24°C) due to a hydrothermal input. The stromatolites do not lithify, but form broad, rounded and low-domed bioherms dominated by diatom frustules and aragonite micro-crystals agglutinated by extracellular substances. In comparison to other modern stromatolites, they harbour an atypical microbial community characterized by highly abundant representatives of Deinococcus-Thermus, Rhodobacteraceae, Desulfobacterales and Spirochaetes. Additionally, a high proportion of the sequences that could not be classified at phylum level showed less than 80% identity to the best hit in the NCBI database, suggesting the presence of novel distant lineages. The primary production in the stromatolites is generally high and likely dominated by Microcoleus sp. Through negative phototaxis, the location of these cyanobacteria in the stromatolites is controlled by UV light, which greatly influences their photosynthetic activity. Diatoms, dominated by Amphora sp., are abundant in the anoxic, sulfidic and essentially dark parts of the stromatolites. Although their origin in the stromatolites is unclear, they are possibly an important source of anaerobically degraded organic matter that induces in situ aragonite precipitation. To the best of our knowledge, this is so far the highest altitude with documented actively forming stromatolites. Their generally rich, diverse and to a large extent novel microbial community likely harbours valuable genetic and proteomic reserves, and thus deserves active protection. Furthermore, since the stromatolites flourish in an environment characterized by a multitude of extremes, including high exposure to UV radiation, they can be an excellent model system for studying microbial adaptations under conditions that, at least in part, resemble those during the early phase of life evolution on Earth.Instituto de Biotecnologia y Biologia Molecular (IBBM

Causes of Activation and Deactivation of Modified Nanogold Catalysts during Prolonged Storage and Redox Treatments

The catalytic properties of modified Au/TiO2 catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation are affected by deactivation and reactivation after long-term storage and by redox treatments. The effect of these phenomena on the catalysts was studied by HRTEM, BET, SEM, FTIR CO, XPS and H2 TPR methods. The main cause for the deactivation and reactivation of catalytic properties is the variation in the electronic state of the supported gold, mainly, the proportion of singly charged ions Au+. The most active samples are those with the highest proportion of singly charged gold ions, while catalysts with a high content of trivalent gold ions are inactive at low-temperatures. Active states of gold, resistant to changes caused by the reaction process and storage conditions, can be stabilized by modification of the titanium oxide support with transition metals oxides. The catalyst modified with lanthanum oxide shows the highest stability and activity.We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).This work was funded by CONACYT project 260409 and PAPIIT-UNAM project IT200114 (Mexico); CSIC project 201180E104 and MINECO project CTQ2013-41507-R (Spain); and Government Program “Science” of Tomsk Polytechnic University, grant No. 4.1187.2014/K (Russia)

Identification of Subnanometric Ag Species, Their Interaction with Supports and Role in Catalytic CO Oxidation

The nature and size of the real active species of nanoparticulated metal supported catalysts is still an unresolved question. The technique of choice to measure particle sizes at the nanoscale, HRTEM, has a practical limit of 1 nm. This work is aimed to identify the catalytic role of subnanometer species and methods to detect and characterize them. In this frame, we investigated the sensitivity to redox pretreatments of Ag/Fe/TiO2, Ag/Mg/TiO2 and Ag/Ce/TiO2 catalysts in CO oxidation. The joint application of HRTEM, SR-XRD, DRS, XPS, EXAFS and XANES methods indicated that most of the silver in all samples is in the form of Ag species with size <1 nm. The differences in catalytic properties and sensitivity to pretreatments, observed for the studied Ag catalysts, could not be explained taking into account only the Ag particles whose size distribution is measured by HRTEM, but may be explained by the presence of the subnanometer Ag species, undetectable by HRTEM, and their interaction with supports. This result highlights their role as active species and the need to take them into account to understand integrally the catalysis by supported nanometals.We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).This research was supported by Government Program “Science” of Tomsk Polytechnic University, Grant No. 4.1187.2014/K, CONACYT Project 260409 and PAPIIT-UNAM Project IT200114 (Mexico), CSIC project 201480E077 and MINECO Project CTQ2013-41507-R (Spain). We gratefully thank O. Martynyuk, G. Torres Otañez, Z. I. Bedolla Valdez, E. Flores, F. Ruiz Medina, A. Olivas Sarabia, I. Gradilla, J. Mendoza, E. M. Aparicio Ceja, J. Peralta, David A. Domínguez, M. Sainz, R. Valdez Castro, M. Martínez, B. Acosta Ruelas, F. Ramírez Hernández and M. López Cisneros for valuable technical assistance

Causes of activation and deactivation of modified nanogold catalysts during prolonged storage and redox treatments

The catalytic properties of modified Au/TiO₂ catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation are affected by deactivation and reactivation after long-term storage and by redox treatments. The effect of these phenomena on the catalysts was studied by HRTEM, BET, SEM, FTIR CO, XPS and H₂ TPR methods. The main cause for the deactivation and reactivation of catalytic properties is the variation in the electronic state of the supported gold, mainly, the proportion of singly charged ions Au⁺. The most active samples are those with the highest proportion of singly charged gold ions, while catalysts with a high content of trivalent gold ions are inactive at low-temperatures. Active states of gold, resistant to changes caused by the reaction process and storage conditions, can be stabilized by modification of the titanium oxide support with transition metals oxides. The catalyst modified with lanthanum oxide shows the highest stability and activity

Green oxidation of n-octanol on supported nanogold catalysts: Formation of gold active sites under combined effect of gold content, additive nature and redox pretreatment

The combined influence of gold content (0.5 or 4 wt. %), modifying additives (La or Ce oxides) and redox pretreatments (H2 or O2) on catalytic properties and formation of active sites of Au/TiO2 in the selective oxidation of n‐octanol under mild conditions was studied. Samples were characterized by BET, XRD, EDX, ICP, TEM, STEM‐HAADF, CO2‐TPD, H2‐TPR and XPS methods. The order of catalytic activity depended on the support nature for all treated samples, as follows: Au/La2O3/TiO2>Au/CeO2/TiO2>Au/TiO2. The catalytic activity enhanced with the increase of gold loading in the samples with hydrogen pretreatment, while after the oxidative pretreatment of the catalysts the opposite dependence of the activity with the gold content was found. This catalytic behavior was explained by a change in the surface concentration of monovalent gold ions, which seemed to be the active sites. The most active catalyst, 0.5 % Au/La2O3/TiO2, pretreated in oxidative atmosphere, had the highest surface concentration of monovalent gold ions