Hydrothermal performance of catalyst supports

摘要

A high surface area catalyst with a mesoporous support structure and a thin conformal coating over the surface of the support structure. The high surface area catalyst support is adapted for carrying out a reaction in a reaction environment where the thin conformal coating protects the support structure within the reaction environment. In various embodiments, the support structure is a mesoporous silica catalytic support and the thin conformal coating comprises a layer of metal oxide resistant to the reaction environment which may be a hydrothermal environment.

主权项

1. A method for preparing using atomic layer deposition (ALD) a catalyst system for carrying out a chemical reaction in a reaction environment detrimental to the structural integrity of a catalytic support structure of the catalyst system, comprising:
providing a catalyst substrate comprising a mesoporous catalytic support structure having a plurality of pores; providing a first precursor, the first precursor comprising at least one metal; providing a second precursor, the second precursor comprising an oxygen-containing compound, a nitrogen-containing compound, or a sulfur-containing compound; depositing on the catalyst substrate a protective conformal layer and having a selected thickness and substantially coating the catalyst substrate wherein the protective conformal layer stabilizes the catalyst substrate to thereby provide hydrothermal stability and maintains the surface area and the porosity of the catalyst substrate within the reaction environment for the reaction and comprising at least one metal oxide, nitride, or sulfide characterized by a chemical resistance to the reaction environment greater than the support structure, the protective conformal layer deposited by performing a plurality of ALD cycles using the ALD reactor, each ALD cycle comprising alternately exposing the catalyst substrate to the first precursor and the second precursor, the method applied to provide the selected thickness being a threshold thickness wherein structural integrity and overall performance of the catalyst system is independent of further increased thickness of the thin conformal layer beyond the threshold thickness; and depositing at least one additional layer selected from the group of nanoclusters, clusters and a monotonic species having a catalytic activity to carry out the chemical reaction.