Showing papers by "Yifei Chen published in 2016"

MOF-74 as an Efficient Catalyst for the Low-Temperature Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx with NH3.

Abstract: In this work, Mn-MOF-74 with hollow spherical structure and Co-MOF-74 with petal-like shape have been prepared successfully via the hydrothermal method. The catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetry–mass spectrum analysis (TG-MS), N2 adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is found that MOF-74(Mn, Co) exhibits the capability for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx at low temperatures. Both experimental (temperature-programmed desorption, TPD) and computational methods have shown that Co-MOF-74 and Mn-MOF-74 owned high adsorption and activation abilities for NO and NH3. The catalytic activities of Mn-MOF-74 and Co-MOF-74 for low-temperature denitrification (deNOx) in the presence of NH3 were 99% at 220 °C and 70% at 210 °C, respectively. It is found that the coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUSs) in M-MOF-74 (M = Mn and Co) played important role...

DFT insights into the adsorption of NH3-SCR related small gases in Mn-MOF-74

Abstract: Mn-MOF-74 has great potential to catalyze selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reaction with NH3 being the reductant (NH3-SCR). However, the reaction mechanism, in particular the adsorptive properties of key reactive species in Mn-MOF-74, remains ambiguous. Besides, the effects of impurities such as H2O and SO2 on the process need further investigation. In this paper, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we studied the adsorption characteristics of six NH3-SCR related small gases, namely NH3, NO2, NO, O2, H2O and SO2. DFT results show that the Mn-MOF-74 structure can bind these molecules relatively strongly in the following order: NH3 > NO2 > NO > O2, allowing for subsequent NH3-SCR reaction. In addition, a possible pathway of NO conversion to NO2 was calculated. Investigation on competitive adsorption of NH3 and H2O, NH3 and SO2 reveals that both H2O and SO2 are probable to replace NH3 under certain conditions, indicating that the two impurity gases may affect the activity of the NH3-SCR reaction. Compared with H2O, SO2 can displace NH3 more easily and should not be neglected.

Computational screening of iodine uptake in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks in a water-containing system

Abstract: Iodine capture is of great environmental significance due to the high toxicity and volatility of I2. Here we conduct a systematic computational investigation of iodine adsorption in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) by adopting the grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation and the density functional theory (DFT) method. The results confirm the vital structural factors for iodine adsorption at 298 K and moderate pressures including metal sites, organic linkers, symmetry, and topology types. The uptake will be enhanced by active metal sites, the simple imidazolate linker and single asymmetric linkers with polar functional groups. The symmetry effect is stronger than the surface properties. Meanwhile low steric hindrance is more beneficial than polar functional groups to iodine adsorption. The specific topology types like mer bringing large surface areas and large diameter cages result in high iodine capacities. Iodine molecules tend to locate in cages with large diameters and aggregates along the sides of cages. In contrast, water prefers small diameter cages. In hydrophilic materials, water has a negative impact on iodine uptake due to its similar adsorption sites to iodine. The selectivity of iodine over water increases with increasing water content due to the large diameter cages of ZIFs. This work proves that ZIFs can be identified as efficient and economical adsorbents with high diversity for iodine in a water-containing system. Furthermore, it provides comprehensive insights into key structural factors for iodine uptake and separation in silver-free porous solids.