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Science 6 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5881, pp. 1320 - 1322
DOI: 10.1126/science.1156660

Reports

Identification of Non-Precious Metal Alloy Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Acetylene

Felix Studt,1,2 Frank Abild-Pedersen,1,2 Thomas Bligaard,1 Rasmus Z. Sørensen,3 Claus H. Christensen,3 Jens K. Nørskov1

The removal of trace acetylene from ethylene is performed industrially by palladium hydrogenation catalysts (often modified with silver) that avoid the hydrogenation of ethylene to ethane. In an effort to identify catalysts based on less expensive and more available metals, density functional calculations were performed that identified relations in heats of adsorption of hydrocarbon molecules and fragments on metal surfaces. This analysis not only verified the facility of known catalysts but identified nickel-zinc alloys as alternatives. Experimental studies demonstrated that these alloys dispersed on an oxide support were selective for acetylene hydrogenation at low pressures.

1 Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design, Department of Physics, Building 311, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
2 Computational Materials Design ApS, Fysikvej, Building 307, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
3 Center for Sustainable and Green Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Building 206, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Large-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Self-Assembling Systems.
M. L. Klein and W. Shinoda (2008)
Science 321, 798-800
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »



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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)