Efficacy of a palladium-modified activated carbon in improving ethylene removal to delay the ripening of Gros Michel banana

The aims of this work were to study the C2H4 adsorption capacity of different types of activated carbon and to improve ethylene removal by impregnating activated carbon with palladium. The results showed that synthesized activated carbon from sugarcane bagasse (SAC) can effectively remove ethylene and carbon dioxide. In addition, a SAC adsorbent was developed by the addition of 1% wt. palladium. It was found that the addition of Pd increased the efficiency of ethylene and carbon dioxide removal resulting in slow ripening of bananas with the lowest C2H4 and CO2 concentration of 2.85 μL/kg.h and 11.2 × 103 μL/kg.h, respectively. In addition, the color of banana combined with 1%Pd/SAC material after 10 days of storage was slightly different with the initial one at the beginning of storage (day 0) and was greener than the banana combined with other adsorbent materials. The loss of banana weight and the digestion of starch to sugar are also low. Therefore, Pd/SAC adsorbent material can effectively maintain the quality of bananas and eliminate ethylene that negatively affects banana quality

Catalytic Activity of Ni Based Materials Prepared by Different Methods for Hydrogen Production via the Water Gas Shift Reaction

Water gas shift reactions (WGS) were evaluated over Ni/CeO2 and Ni/CeSmO catalysts for hydrogen production. The effects of catalyst preparation method and Sm loading were investigated. The Ni/ceria and Ni/CeSmO catalysts were synthesized by combustion, sol gel and sol gel-combustion method. After WGS tests, the catalysts were determined the carbon deposition by thermogravimetric analysis. The thermogravimetric analysis and temperature programmed NH3 desorption showed that addition of Sm promoter made higher the weak acid sites and lower the amount of carbon deposition than the unpromoted catalyst due to it being easily removed. CO chemisorption result indicated that Ni/Ce5%SmO catalyst prepared by combustion method has the highest Ni metal dispersion and metallic surface area compared to the other catalysts. The enhancement of WGS activity of this catalyst is due to more surface active sites being exposed to reactants. Furthermore, H2-temperature programmed reduction analysis confirmed an easiest reduction of this catalyst. This behavior accelerates the redox process at the ceria surface and enhances the oxygen vacancy concentration. The catalytic activity measurements exhibited that the optimum Sm loading was 5% wt. and the best catalyst preparation was the combustion method. The high surface area and small crystallite size of the 5%Ni/Ce5%SmO (combustion) catalyst resulted in sufficient dispersion, which closely related to the WGS activity of the catalyst

Water–Gas Shift Activity over Ni/Al₂O₃ Composites

The water–gas shift (WGS) performance of 10%Ni/Al2O3, 20%Ni/Al2O3 and 10%Ni/CaO-Al2O3 catalysts was studied to reduce CO concentration and produce extra hydrogen. Ni was added onto the Al2O3 support by an impregnation method. The physicochemical properties of nickel catalysts that influence their catalytic activity were examined. The most influential factors in increasing the CO conversion for the water–gas shift reaction are Ni dispersion and surface acidity. Ni metal sites were identified as the active sites for CO adsorption. The main effect of nickel metal was reducing the adsorbed CO amount by reducing the active site concentration. The 10%Ni/Al2O3 catalyst was more active for the WGS reaction than other catalysts. This catalyst presents a high CO conversion rate (75% CO conversion at 800 °C), which is due to its high Ni dispersion at the surface (6.74%) and surface acidity, thereby favoring CO adsorption. A high Ni dispersion for more surface-active sites is exposed to a CO reactant. In addition, favored CO adsorption is related to the acidity on the catalyst surface because CO reactant in the WGS reaction is a weak base. The total acidity can be evaluated by integrating the NH3-Temperature-Programmed Desorption curves. Therefore, an enhancement of surface acidity is identified as the favored CO adsorption

Water gas shift reaction over Cu catalyst supported by mixed oxide materials for fuel cell application

The water gas shift activities of Cu on ceria and Gd doped ceria have been studied for the further enhancement of hydrogen purity [1] after the steam reforming of ethanol. The catalytic properties of commercial catalysts were also studied to compare with the as-prepared catalysts. Copper-containing cerium oxide materials are shown in this work to be suitable for the high temperature. Copper-ceria is a stable high-temperature shift catalyst, unlike iron-chrome catalysts that deactivate severely in CO2-rich gases. We found that 5%Cu/10%GDC(D) has much higher activity than other copper ceria based catalysts. The finely dispersed CuO species is favorable to the higher activity, which explained the activity enhancement of this catalyst. The kinetics of the WGS reaction over Cu catalysts supported by mixed oxide materials were measured in the temperature range 200-400 °C. An independence of the CO conversion rate on CO2 and H2 was found

Water gas shift reaction over Cu catalyst supported by mixed oxide materials for fuel cell application

The water gas shift activities of Cu on ceria and Gd doped ceria have been studied for the further enhancement of hydrogen purity [1] after the steam reforming of ethanol. The catalytic properties of commercial catalysts were also studied to compare with the as-prepared catalysts. Copper-containing cerium oxide materials are shown in this work to be suitable for the high temperature. Copper-ceria is a stable high-temperature shift catalyst, unlike iron-chrome catalysts that deactivate severely in CO2-rich gases. We found that 5%Cu/10%GDC(D) has much higher activity than other copper ceria based catalysts. The finely dispersed CuO species is favorable to the higher activity, which explained the activity enhancement of this catalyst. The kinetics of the WGS reaction over Cu catalysts supported by mixed oxide materials were measured in the temperature range 200-400 °C. An independence of the CO conversion rate on CO2 and H2 was found

Effect of Re Addition on the Water–Gas Shift Activity of Ni Catalyst Supported by Mixed Oxide Materials for H₂ Production

Water–gas shift (WGS) reaction was performed over 5% Ni/CeO2, 5% Ni/Ce-5% Sm-O, 5% Ni/Ce-5% Gd-O, 1% Re 4% Ni/Ce-5% Sm-O and 1% Re 4% Ni/Ce-5% Gd-O catalysts to reduce CO concentration and produce extra hydrogen. CeO2 and M-doped ceria (M = Sm and Gd) were prepared using a combustion method, and then nickel and rhenium were added onto the mixed oxide supports using an impregnation method. The influence of rhenium, samarium and gadolinium on the structural and redox properties of materials that have an effect on their water–gas shift activities was investigated. It was found that the addition of samarium and gadolinium into Ni/CeO2 enhances the surface area, reduces the crystallite size of CeO2, increases oxygen vacancy concentration and improves Ni dispersion on the CeO2 surface. Moreover, the addition of rhenium leads to an increase in the WGS activity of Ni/CeMO (M = Sm and Gd) catalysts. The results indicate that 1% Re 4% Ni/Ce-5% Sm-O presents the greatest WGS activity, with the maximum of 97% carbon monoxide conversion at 350 °C. An increase in the dispersion and surface area of metallic nickel in this catalyst results in the facilitation of the reactant CO adsorption. The result of X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis suggests that Sm and Re in 1% Re 4% Ni/Ce-5% Sm-O catalyst donate some electrons to CeO2, resulting in a decrease in the oxidation state of cerium. The occurrence of more Ce3+ at the CeO2 surface leads to higher oxygen vacancy, which alerts the redox process at the surface, thereby increasing the efficiency of the WGS reaction