Rapid evaluation of oxidation catalysis by gas sensor system: total oxidation, oxidative dehydrogenation, and selective oxidation over metal oxide catalysts

The rapid evaluation of catalysis is an indispensable technology for the success of combinatorial chemistry. A small-sized, less expensive, easily operating screening is desirable for parallel settings which dramatically shortens the evaluation time. Recent advances in Ps sensors have enabled us to use them for the rapid evaluation of oxidation catalysis. Three typical catalytic oxidations over metal oxide catalysts were evaluated by gas sensor systems optimized for each catalytic system. The first one is the total oxidation of carbon monoxide in air. Five catalytic combustion-type gas sensors were used in a parallel reactor system to shorten the evaluation time. The second one is the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane over the mixed oxide of nickel and iron. The evaluation of the ODH catalysis was performed by a selective olefin sensor which determines the concentration Of C2H4 in C2H6. The third one is the selective oxidation catalysis of propane over alkali modified Fe/SiO2. The effluents including CO, CO2, aldehydes and ketones in propane were analyzed by the CO, CO2 and semiconductor-type gas sensors selective toward aldehydes and ketones. These evaluation results indicated that gas sensors have a good potential for the rapid evaluation of oxidation catalysts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.