Catalytic nanosponges of acidic aluminosilicates for plastic degradation and CO2 to fuel conversion

Maity, Ayan; Chaudhari, Sachin; Titman, Jeremy J.; Polshettiwar, Vivek

Abstract

The synthesis of solid acids with strong zeolite-like acidity and textural properties like amorphous aluminosilicates (ASAs) is still a challenge. In this work, we report the synthesis of amorphous “acidic aluminosilicates (AAS)”, which possesses Brønsted acidic sites like in zeolites and textural properties like ASAs. AAS catalyzes different reactions (styrene oxide ring-opening, vesidryl synthesis, Friedel−Crafts alkylation, jasminaldehyde synthesis, m-xylene isomerization, and cumene cracking) with better performance than state-of-the-art zeolites and amorphous aluminosilicates. Notably, AAS efficiently converts a range of waste plastics to hydrocarbons at significantly lower temperatures. A Cu-Zn-Al/AAS hybrid shows excellent performance for CO2 to fuel conversion with 79% selectivity for dimethyl ether. Conventional and DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR provides a molecular-level understanding of the distinctive Brønsted acidic sites of these materials. Due to their unique combination of strong acidity and accessibility, AAS will be a potential alternative to zeolites.

Citation

Maity, A., Chaudhari, S., Titman, J. J., & Polshettiwar, V. (2020). Catalytic nanosponges of acidic aluminosilicates for plastic degradation and CO2 to fuel conversion. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 3828 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17711-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 7, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 7, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 7, 2020
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 3828 (2020)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17711-6
• Keywords: General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Physics and Astronomy; General Chemistry
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4799521
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17711-6
• Additional Information: Maity, A., Chaudhari, S., Titman, J.J. et al. Catalytic nanosponges of acidic aluminosilicates for plastic degradation and CO2 to fuel conversion. Nat Commun 11, 3828 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17711-6