B5001 - CHIMICA DELLA CATALISI

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student achieves the interdisciplinary knowledges required to evaluate and manage the catalytic processes. He has the competences on the catalytic processes: heterogeneous, homogeneous and enzymatic, especially focused on the preparation and application of heterogeneous catalysts and on the chemical kinetic of the main reactions. Furthermore, he has the competences on the characterization of catalytic materials and on the principles of the adsorption, on the main techniques of characterization and on the electronic and molecular mechanisms of the catalysis, achieved by the knowledges of the phenomena related to chemisorption and the electronic properties of the solids, in particular of their surface.

Course contents

Pre-requisites: concepts of thermodynamic and chemical kinetic, reactivity of the main classes of organic compounds, properties of transition elements, acido-base properties, concepts of the precipitation methods.

Course contents

• Fundaments of catalysis. Chemical and physical adsorption. Dissociative and molecular chemisorption.
• Close packed structures. Lattice planes and Miller indices. Surface transformation.
• Electronic properties of solids and of their surfaces: energy bands, band gap, metals, semiconductors
• Transition metals: electronic properties and scale of catalytic activity. Volcano plot. Examples. Chemisorption in oxides and reactivity.
• Characterization physical-chemical techniques (structure or surface) of heterogeneous catalysts. Determination of surface area and porosity distribution. Forming methods and determination of the mechanical properties.
• X-ray diffraction. Generation of X-rays. Scattering and interference. Bragg's law. Lattice planes associated with reflections.
• Adsorption and Langmuir's theory. Chemical kinetic: main characteristic and reaction classes (simple, at the equilibrium, parallel and consecutive). "Structure sensitive" reactions and role of the catalyst characteristics. Langmuir-Hinshelwood theory and related exceptions.
• Main methods for the preparation of catalysts or supports. Bulk catalysts: melting, precipitation, sol-gel. Supporting: role of the support, wet and incipient wetness impregnation, ion exchange, precipitation.
• Methods for the characterization of the activity, selectivity and stability of the catalysts. Liquid- or gas-phase reactions. Catalyst screening. Management of lab-scale pilot plants, in the frame of the environmental and safety constrains. Techniques for the analysis of he reaction products and mass balances.

Readings/Bibliography

It is not necessary to purchase specific texts.

For further information

- D. Sanfilippo Ed., The catalytic process from laboratory to the industrial plant, Marasci, Milano, 1994.

- M. Baerns Ed. “Basic Principles in Applied Catalysis”, Springer, 2004.

- C. H. Bartholomew, R. J. Farrauto ”Industrial Catalytic Processes”, Wiley, New Jersey, 2006.

- G. Rothenberg “Catalysis – Concepts and Green Applications”, Wiley-VCH, Weiheim, 2008.

- J.K. Nørskov, F. Studt, F. Abild-Pedersen, T. Bligaard, Fundamental Concepts in Heterogeneous Catalysis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2014

All the didactic material presented is collected and made available to students on the application https://virtuale.unibo.it/

Teaching methods

• Lectures, which use PowerPoint and video projection presentations and supporting graphics created on the blackboard and with the employment of a wide number of examples and specific execises to illustrate the different subjects.

• Class attendance is strongly recommended in order to make the learning process more effective and faster, while it is not an element of evaluation.

• Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Assessment methods

The exam is done through a final test, aimed at ascertaining the acquisition of the expected knolwedge and skills.

The test want to evaluate the comprehension and personal elaboration by the student of the treated themes. Positively will be evaluated the critical and logical capacity to justify the choice proposed.

The final exam consists of an oral test on the full program.

The oral exam consists of a discussion on the topics about the fundamentals of the catalysis and on the topics about the chemico-physical characterization of heterogeneous catalysts.

The mark out of thirty is scaled from 18, sufficient proof but with obvious knowledge gaps, at 30, excellent test with complete preparation and ability to simultaneously deal with topics of various thematic areas, honors require individual insights.

Teaching tools

• Teaching material: the activities also make use of supports such as PowerPoint presentations and video projections.
  
• All the didactic material of the course (Power Point Files) is available to the students. Username and password are reserved for students enrolled at the University of Bologna.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Fornasari