Metal hydrides (M-H), critical but ubiquitous intermediates in a broad variety of catalytic reactions, are important in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. However, the comprehensive characterization and understanding of M-H species are still challenging.
Recently, a research team led by Prof. HOU Guangjin from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed the reactive gallium-hydrogen (Ga-H) species on the surface of gallium oxide (Ga 2 O 3 ) by using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR).
This study was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society on Sept. 14.
The researchers provided ssNMR evidence of surface Ga-H species generated on a practical nano Ga 2 O 3 oxide catalyst during direct H 2 activation and propane dehydrogenation reactions.
They found that the complex 1 H NMR signature of Ga-H species came from strong J and dipolar/quadrupolar couplings using NMR techniques and numerical simulations. And they revealed comprehensive information on the structural configuration and formation mechanism of this special M-H species with complementary NMR and DFT analysis.
Furthermore, they used 13 CO 2 adsorption experiment to prove that Ga-H species were the key intermediates in the hydrogenation process of CO 2 .
"The analytic approach presented in this study can be extended to other M–H analysis, and it may benefit the design of more efficient Ga-based catalysts," said Prof. HOU.
The above work was supported by the National Key R&D Programme of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Liaoning Revitalization Talents Programme, the China National Postdoctoral Programme for Innovative Talents, and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Direct Detection of Reactive Gallium-Hydride Species on the Ga2O3 Surface via Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy
14-Sep-2022