p Automated synthesis and data accumulation for fast production of high-performance Ni nanocatalysts

Abstract

Diverse methods have been developed for the synthesis of active nanocatalysts involving various heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Thus far, numerous trial-and-error runs have been done to find the effective and practical ways. In the present work, the All-In-One (AIO) reactor system with a well-designed synthesis program, now in pilot stage, was first exploited as a reliable synthesis tool to find the optimum conditions for the production of Ni nanocatalysts. Using an activated charcoal support, active Ni nanoparticles of 7.8-11.8 nm (labeled A001-A007 in the program) were produced. These were achieved using a melt-impregnation process, which was controlled by variations in the applied gas (N2 and H2) and temperature (400 degrees C, 450 degrees C, and 500 degrees C) used as critical factors in the calcination step. Based on the optimization of the reaction sequence, each Ni nanocatalyst could be prepared within 5 h and 22 min. In particular, the optimum Ni nanocatalyst (A006) with the smallest particle size (7.8 nm), prepared under H2 flow at 400 degrees C, exhibits the highest catalytic activity (0.748 mmol4-NP center dot gcat1 center dot s1) among the Ni catalysts for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). This activity is much higher than that of conventional supported Ni nanocatalysts (0.551 mmol4-NP center dot gcat 1 center dot s1) produced using the wetness method. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license