Supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (杰出青年基金)

Project Leader:  Prof. Xiulian Pan

Key words: carbon nanomaterials; carbon for catalysis; nanocatalysis; confinement effect

Abstract: Catalysis is a science of manipulating the rate and direction of a chemical reaction with catalysts. The applicant has been engaged in the research on nanostructured carbon for catalysis for years. Recently she has made progress in designing of catalysts and modulating catalytic reactions utilizing the confinement effects induced by the unique one dimensional tubular morphology and electronic structure of carbon nanotubes. (1) Efficient methods to prepare confined catalysts have been developed. The carbon nanotube channels provide geometrical confinement effect which allows preparation and stabilization of metal particles at the nanoscale and even subnanoscale. (2) The electronic confinement effects modify the electronic structure of confined species leading to facilitated reduction and retarded oxidation, as well as the electronic state of carbon layer, and hence changing the adsorption and activation of reactants. (3) A method to distinguish the inside and outside molecules is established. This enables studies on the diffusion of molecules inside the confined nanochannels. Based on this, it is found that the carbon nanotube channels can selectively enrich hydrophobic molecules over hydrophilic ones, which can also significantly influence chemical reactions. (4) The concept of "synergetic confinement effects in carbon nanotubes for catalysis" is proposed, which is validated in a series of reactions. This concept provides a novel approach to tune catalytic behavior of metal catalysts and design new carbon-based catalysts. This research is well recognized among international peers. In recent 5 years, the applicant has published 25 SCI papers as the first author or corresponding author (including co-corresponding author), including Acc Chem Res, PNAS, Angew Chem Int Ed. The SCI citation numbers by other people is 1211 and the highest citation number of a single paper (as the first author) is 252. In 2009, the applicant won Natural Science Award of Liaoning province (the first grade) as the second executive.

Project No: 21425312

Publication:

1. Fan Yang, Dehui Deng, Xiulian Pan, Qiang Fu adn Xinhe Bao*
Understanding nano effects in catalysis
Natianal Science Review, 2(2015)183-201