Control of the porous texture of catalysts through integrative routes

• Grant number: 25/06383-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Celso Valentim Santilli
• Grantee: Caio Carvalho dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/01953-3 - Materials applied to transformation of biomass in green diesel: from laboratory to pilot, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

TITLE: Control of porous texture of catalysts through integrative routes.Supervisor: Celso Valentim SantilliPostdoctoral Researcher: Caio Carvalho dos SantosThe project aims to develop hierarchically structured porous catalysts (NiMo/Al¿O¿, CoMo/Al¿O¿, NiMo/MgO, and NiMo/TiO¿) that allow facilitated transport of vegetable oil molecules and hydrogenation reaction products between the external surface of the globular bodies and the catalytic sites, through the control of mesopore size in the range compatible with the permeation of C15 to C21 hydrocarbon molecules, thereby achieving improved catalytic performance in the production of hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO). In this regard, the proposal is to combine the methods used in the formation of hierarchical materials with meso- and macropores-employing amphiphilic molecules (block copolymers) to form micelles and emulsions/foams-with the chemistry of the sol-gel process. A novel integrative route will be employed for the anchoring of active metallic particles on the mesopore walls. The precursor reagents of the metallic particles will be confined within thermoreversible micelles (mesopore generators) formed by amphiphilic polymers with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) between 50 and 70 °C. After the sol-gel transition and the formation of the walls around the pore-generating phases, the system will be heated above the UCST, inducing the formation of metallic particles exclusively on the mesopore walls. This sequential integrative synthesis is expected to ensure the distribution of active species throughout all mesopores and avoid occlusion within their walls. The formation mechanism of the solid network and of the active phase metallic particles will be monitored in real time using rheological measurements and Raman, quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). (AU)