Understanding Bio-induced Selectivity in Nanoparticle Catalyst Manufacture
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
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Publications
Bennett J
(2013)
Nanoparticles of palladium supported on bacterial biomass: New re-usable heterogeneous catalyst with comparable activity to homogeneous colloidal Pd in the Heck reaction
in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Bennett J
(2010)
Palladium supported on bacterial biomass as a novel heterogeneous catalyst: A comparison of Pd/Al2O3 and bio-Pd in the hydrogenation of 2-pentyne
in Chemical Engineering Science
Bennett J
(2012)
Improving Selectivity in 2-Butyne-1,4-diol Hydrogenation using Biogenic Pt Catalysts
in ACS Catalysis
Deplanche K
(2014)
Catalytic activity of biomass-supported Pd nanoparticles: Influence of the biological component in catalytic efficacy and potential application in 'green' synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals
in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
Deplanche K
(2011)
Selective Oxidation of Benzyl-Alcohol over Biomass-Supported Au/Pd Bioinorganic Catalysts
in Topics in Catalysis
Deplanche K
(2012)
Microbial synthesis of core/shell gold/palladium nanoparticles for applications in green chemistry.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Macaskie L
(2012)
Use of Desulfovibrio and Escherichia coli Pd-nanocatalysts in reduction of Cr(VI) and hydrogenolytic dehalogenation of polychlorinated biphenyls and used transformer oil
in Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
Macaskie LE
(2021)
Enhanced hydrogenation catalyst synthesized by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans exposed to a radio frequency magnetic field.
in Microbial biotechnology
| Description | A range of biogenic catalysts were prepared at Biosciences in Birmingham. These have undergone further cleaning and characterisation at Chemistry in Cardiff. Catalyst testing was carried out in Birmingham. A summary of findings of testing biogenic catalysts in the liquid phase is given below. Summary of findings in liquid phase catalysis: The selectivity towards1,4-butynediol hydrogenation of both a standard 5 wt% Pt on graphite supported catalyst and a biogenic Pt analogue is reported. In both cases, it is determined using cyclic voltammetry that step sites afford the greatest extent of hydrogenation and that deliberate blocking of such sites gives rise to significant selectivity in favour of the 1,4-butenediol product. For the 5 wt% Pt/graphite catalyst, irreversible adsorption of bismuth was used as the step site blocking agent. In the case of the biogenic Pt nanoparticles synthesised within the bacterium Escherichia coli, residual molecular organic fragments, left over after chemical cleaning and subsequent separation from the bacterial support, were observed to have accumulated preferentially at defect sites. This phenomenon facilitated an increase in selectivity towards alkenic products of up to 1.4 during hydrogenation of the alkyne. When biogenic nanoparticles of platinum supported upon bacterial biomass were also investigated, they too were found to be active and selective although selectivity towards 1,4-butenediol was optimised only after the particles were chemically cleaned and separated from the biomass. Selectively-poisoned 5% Pt on graphite (0.5 monolayers), although highly selective, gave half the reaction rate of the "cleaned" (most biomass removed from the Pt) biogenic platinum nanoparticles (20% and 45% conversion of starting material respectively after 2 h) but the latter exhibited less selectivity for butenediol (0.7 and 0.9 respectively). It is proposed therefore that such biogenic materials may potentially act in a similar manner to Lindlar-type catalysts, used extensively in organic synthesis for selective hydrogenation of alkynes, in which an additive partially poisons metal sites but without the associated hazards of toxic heavy metals such as lead being present. |
| Exploitation Route | The techniques developed under this project could potentially lead to: • Manufacture of catalysts from waste materials such as scrap catalytic converters and electronic waste. • Reduction of waste of raw materials in chemical manufacture through use of highly selective catalysts. • Recovery of metals from catalysts for further recycling using microwaving or sonication. • Improved manufacturing through selective production of desirable chemicals, whilst reducing the amount of waste produced. The project is subject to a collaboration agreement between the Universities of Cardiff and Birmingham. Alta Innovations, the Technology Transfer company serving University of Birmingham University, will help to connect academic expertise and intellectual property to help solve industry-based problems. The Tech Transfer Offices of Birmingham & Cardiff have had 'hands-on' experience in working collaboratively towards a common goal via a previous Royal Society award. Deplanche/Macaskie have filed a patent application (BioAu catalysts) superior performance for selective oxidation reactions, and similarly patents would be applied for to protect the intellectual property generated under this project. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Education |
| URL | http://www.roadstoriches.co.uk/ |
| Description | The findings have indicated that potentially toxic chemicals used in catalysis such as lead in Lindlar catalysts could potentially be replaced by less harmful materials via biogenic preparation routes. Bacterial cells such as E.coli and D. desulfuricans showed an ability to accumulate small nanoparticles of metals such as palladium. Such catalysts were shown to have good selectivity in reactions such as Heck and Suzuki coupling reactions, which are commonly used industrial reactions. This method of producing catalysts could facilitate the recovery of spend metals from scrap sources such as car catalytic converters and electronics waste, as well as low grade road dust containing metals expelled from catalytic converters of vehicles. The type of bacterial strain could also influence the catalytic performance. The above advantages have been demonstrated through publications, conferences and public engagement workshops. They could potentially be used by industry, e.g. Macaskie and Wood are collaborating with C-Tech Innovation to exploit novel catalytic processes. A post-doc from an associated project, Dr Angela Murray, has formed a spin-out company Roads to Riches, who are exploiting the recycling of road dust to make value added catalysts. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Chemicals,Education |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Use of Microwave Injury to Predispose Bacteria to Make Highly Active Catalytic Nanoparticles |
| Amount | £20,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Department | University of Birmingham EPSRC Follow On Fund |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2013 |
| End | 03/2014 |
| Company Name | ROADS TO RICHES LIMITED |
| Description | "Roads to Riches" aims to develop mobile technology for the recovery of platinum, palladium and rhodium (PGMs) from road dust, which is a global commodity. PGMs, are lost from vehicle catalytic converters as people drive around. Much of this ends up in road dust, which is collected but not currently recycled, often ending up in landfill sites. PGMs are valuable and increasingly scarce, trading for up to £80 per gram. Thus collecting road dust and recycling the PGMs not only generates revenue, but more importantly conserves a finite, non-renewable valuable natural resource. Company officers included Angela Murray, Lynne Macaskie and Neil Rowson. |
| Year Established | 2008 |
| Impact | The company developed technologies to recover platinum, palladium and rhodium from road dust, and was seeking to form contracts with city councils and materials companies in order to close the recycling loop, and to recover these valuable metals from city streets. This would close the recycling loop and provide renewable materials for the manufacture of goods such as catalysts and electronics. In terms of public impact, Angela Murray made a number of media presentations about the company for example BBC Midlands Today, BBC The One Show, BBC The Forum, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01q5cg6 The Times Article: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-streets-are-paved-with-platinum-rjb8drfvvnq |
| Website | https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/alumni/entrepreneurship/angela-murray.pdf |