Novel Catalysts Synthesis and Evaluation for Synthetic Fuels

Synthetic fuels are based on syngas, a mixture of CO and H2, which can be obtained from natural gas or gasification of coal and biomass. Synthetic fuels are a great drop-in fuel alternative to fossil fuels as they can help meet global energy needs, ensure energy security and reduce the carbon footprint. Mobil pioneered a revolutionary route for synthetic fuel synthesis with two stages: (1) synthesize methanol from syngas and (2) transform methanol to gasoline. However, it proved uneconomical because of high energy input and low conversion. The key to solving this problem is finding novel catalysts with high stability and activity for efficient integration of these two steps. In this project, a new synthesis technique to stabilize the metal particles by coating a layer of Al2O3 or ZnO on the top, overcoating, will be applied to the traditional Mobil catalyst, CuZn/Al2O3 and the novel catalyst Pd/ Al2O3. These catalysts will then be characterized and evaluated to compare activity and stability. This work will provide a fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanisms, enabling further exploration of synthetic fuel catalysts. One publication in the Journal of Catalysis and preliminary data for an NSF CAREER award application are expected from this work.