MASc Oral Exam | High Surface Area Cu/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst Synthesized by Reverse Microemulsion Method for CO2 Conversion via Reverse Water Gas Shift, by Anastasiia Zakharova

Thursday, August 19, 2021 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

You are welcome to attend Anastasiia Zakharova MASc oral exam supervised by Professor D. Simakov

Abstract:

Nowadays, catalytic conversion of CO2 has gained great attention due to environmental issues caused by CO2 emissions around the world. CO2 can be considered as a source of carbon with hydrogenation (using renewablehydrogen) as a possible approach for transforming CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels creating an artificial carbon cycle. This study investigated the catalytic performance of γ-alumina-supported copper oxide for the reverse water gas shift reaction. A reverse microemulsion technique was deployed for the synthesis of a highly porous CuO-supported γ-Al2O3 catalyst with a specific surface area of 369.69 m2/g. XRD, BET, SEM and TEM were used for catalysts characterization and TPR was conducted to study the reducibility. The catalytic performance of the as-prepared catalyst was evaluated at various temperatures and space velocities. Results showed 100% CO selectivity with excellent CO2 conversion (near to equilibrium ~53%) at 500 degrees C.

Catalyst stability test was conducted for 95 h at 1 atm and 600 C under varying space velocities. RME Cu/γ-Al2O3 catalyst showed excellent catalytic stability and outstanding CO2 conversion of ~61% at GHSV of 60,000 and 41% at GHSV of 200,000.  This study showed that reverse microemulsion is a promising method for developing catalysts and enhancing their functionality in thermo-catalytic reactions.