Synthesis and characterization of bimetallic oxides of Zr, Nb and Pd incorporated in reduced graphene

• Grant number: 18/17279-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2018
• End date: October 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Roberto de Vasconcelos Lanza
• Grantee: Leandro Cesar Trevelin
• Supervisor: Ana Lopes Correia Tavares
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/12597-0 - Gas difusion electrodes production modified with bimetallic oxides of Nb, Mo, Pd e Zr for the production of H2O2 in situ, BP.DR

Abstract

It is known the important role that H2O2 represents as a reagent for oxidation of organic pollutants molecules. In this scenario could be cited the Advanced Oxidative Process (AOP), that is the capability of a reactant to drive a reaction mechanism to explore the high oxidative reactivity of hydroxyl radicals (OH) through a complete mineralization of pollutants or less toxic sub-products. Therefore, the electrogeneration of H2O2 could be an important step to the pollutant treatment system based on AOP, given the capability to a in situ generation through the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) via two electrons pathway using different types of catalyst, for example, Printex 6L carbon (CP) with or without modification. The Graphene (Gr) is a material composed by -sp2 hybridized carbon atoms and currently had been used for ORR due to high superficial area and chemical and thermal stability. In this study, is proposed an optimized synthesis method that allows the production of large quantities of graphene materials in a very short period of time (2 grams in 30 min in opposition to few milligrams in 3 weeks with the traditional chemical methods), with tunable chemistry and properties will be used together with some metal precursors (Niobium, Zirconium and Palladium) to produce novel bimetallic oxides supported in graphene. These catalysts will be tested for their physicochemical and electrochemical properties to the best application on H2O2 in-situ generation through the oxygen reduction reaction in acid medium.