Literature Seminar:

Petroleum derivatives have long served in the production of fuels, materials, and energy. As a fuel source, these derivatives have found to be resourceful in the transportation sector for many decades with respect to flight and on-ground travel. However, the combustion of these fuels leads to the production of gases and particulate matter known to contribute to global warming and have adverse human health effects. To mitigate this, many commercial ground vehicles come equipped with catalysts capable of oxidizing harmful gases and soot down to compounds with diminished damaging effects. Though promising as they are, these kinds of technologies are generally made up of expensive and rare noble metals such as platinum, gold, and palladium. In addition to this observation, a major problem associated with these catalysts is their low soot oxidation efficiencies. Because of these reasons, catalysts of this nature have been widely criticized for their high cost yet poor efficiency. To overcome this barrier, alternative catalysts and designs have been investigated to meet the demands of a cheaper and more efficient oxidizing material. One area of that has received much attention in recent years [are] silver metal-supported catalysts. Catalysts of this nature, which are metal oxides shielded in silver nanoparticles, have displayed both high thermal stability and oxidizing efficiency despite their sacrifice of cost. However, the notable feature that highlights their attractiveness and has aroused curiosity in this area is their ability to outperform their homogenous counterparts. During this seminar I will highlight the unique working mechanism behind these materials and the influence of silver nanoparticles on their catalytic activity and thermal stability. Future implications for this field and potential integrations for this technology will also be discussed to highlight the context and importance of this study.

Chen, L.; Li, T.; Zhang, J.; Wang, J.; Chen, P.; Fu, M.; Wu, J.; Ye, D., Chemisorbed Superoxide Species Enhanced the High Catalytic Performance of Ag/Co3O4 Nanocubes for Soot Oxidation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021, 13 , 21436-21449.