Hydrogenation
A few studies have shown that hydrogenation catalysis can be promoted by applying electric potentials to the catalyst. While these methods have already improved the selectivity and activity of heterogeneous catalysts under static conditions, the use of dynamic external stimuli has been underexplored.
Now, a team of scientists, led by associate professor Yan Ning from the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS; www.nus.edu.sg), has demonstrated a method to increase the rate of ethylene hydrogenation by a factor of five, compared to typical industrial rates. The technique developed by NUS researchers applies oscillating electric potentials to a commercial hydrogenation catalyst, which then dramatically increased the hydrogenation rate of ethylene to ethane.
“Such enhancements in the rates or selectivity of chemical reactions are instrumental in making a chemical process more efficient,” says Yan. “Our work demonstrates a more direct and cost-effective way of optimizing catalyst performance that is beyond conventional methods,” he says.
The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.