Published: August 22, 2011 r2011 American Chemical Society 3925 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef200989a | Energy Fuels 2011, 25, 3925–3933 ARTICLE pubs.acs.org/EF Ignition Catalyzed by Unsupported Metal Nanoparticles Xiaofei Ma, Lu Liu, Natan Aronhime, and Michael R. Zachariah* Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States ABSTRACT: The short residence times available in supersonic combustion require some pre-reaction under mixing-controlled- rich conditions and/or methods to lower the reaction temperature for auto-ignition. Adding catalysts could be such an option to achieve this objective. Catalytic ignition of toluene over the surfaces of in situ-generated free metal (Fe and Ni) nanoparticles was investigated experimentally in an aerosol reactor. The metal nanoparticles (Fe and Ni) were generated by decomposition of the corresponding metal carbonyls. Gas-phase (aerosol) size distributions along with transmission electron microscopy used to characterize the morphology of catalyst particles at different temperatures are presented. The effluent gas product and the fuel ignition temperature were determined by mass spectrometry. In comparison to non-catalytic homogeneous ignition, the addition of metal nanoparticles can lower the ignition temperature by as much as 150 °C under rich conditions but had little effect under lean conditions. Iron was found to be a more active catalyst than nickel. Inspection of the catalyst product indicated that sintering was occurring at relatively low temperatures presumably as a result of the exothermic reaction on the particle surface. Turnover frequency as high as 80 s À1 was achieved, implying a greater catalyst efficiency than commonly found for substrate-stabilized catalysts. 1. INTRODUCTION Supersonic combustion has received considerable attention recently because of its potential application to hypersonic propulsion systems, 1 such as scramjet engines. These engines operate by supersonic combustion of fuel and atmospheric oxygen. As such, mixing of the fuel and oxidizer is a major constraint because only a very short contact time is available. It is well-known that, under thermal load, the fuel undergoes thermal “cracking” or pyrolysis, leading to the formation of a fuel mixture rich in light hydrocarbons and hydrogen. Ideally, one would like to obtain a pre-reaction under mixing-controlled-rich conditions and/or lower the reaction temperature for auto-ignition. Adding catalysts could be an option to achieve this objective. Catalysts are often prepared in nanometer-sized particles, so that the total surface area exposed to the reactants is maximized. To preserve the high degree of dispersion and to provide a suitable form of packing for catalyst nanoparticles (NPs), sup- ports on larger and inert materials, such as alumina, silica, titania, and carbon, are usually needed. Most investigations on catalytic reactions are performed with such catalysis configurations. However, in applications where mass-transfer limitations would hinder the combustion rate, boundary layer catalytic limitation provides little advantage. In applications such as for supersonic combustion, monolith supports would never allow for sufficient flows needed. Rather one would prefer to have a free dispersion of catalyst materials that are intimately mixed with the reactant. Furthermore, unsupported (free) NPs eliminate the influence of and the need for support materials. Some aspects of this have already been considered by others. For example, Glikin et al. 2,3 have studied the oxidation of acetic acid over a free iron oxide catalyst. Weber et al. 4,5 investigated the catalytic activity of gas- borne Ni NPs for methanation and concluded that the particle morphology could influence the catalytic performance. Recently, Shimizu et al. 1 reported work of catalytic methane ignition over the surfaces of freely suspended and in situ-gener- ated palladium NPs. In comparison to homogeneous ignition, catalysis by free palladium particles reduced the ignition tem- perature ∼150 K at an equivalence ratio Φ ∼ 0.5. In their work, no significant particle size or structure changes were found below and above the ignition temperature. In a later work, Van Devener et al. 6 employed various tools to characterize the composition, structure, and surface chemical state of the in situ-generated Pd/ PdO catalyst particles during the ignition process. Their results implied that particles must become oxidized before catalytic ignition can be expected. Ignition is important with regard to exothermic decomposition. Wolfe 7 studied the catalytic effect of different metal surfaces for hydrazine decomposition and found that metals with incomplete d orbitals had a catalytic effect in hydrazine decomposition ignition. It is believed that bonding between the N atoms in hydrazine and the incomplete d orbitals of the metal is important. This bonding can initiate hydrazine dissociation and subsequent decomposition and heat release. Our previous work has shown that free (unsupported) metal NPs can lower the decomposition temperature of various liquid fuels under anaerobic conditions. 8 It is also well-known that metal oxides serve as very active catalysts. For example, PdO is more catalytically active than Pd in methane ignition, 9 and reactivity of PtO 2 for CO oxidation is higher than that of a Pt metal surface. 10,11 Under O 2 -rich conditions, the Ru catalyst surface first oxidizes to form RuO 2 before the catalytic reaction takes place. 12 Iron oxide NPs are also attractive catalysts in CO oxidation, 13 catalytic ozonation, 14 and oxidative cracking of heavy petroleum residual oil. 15 Received: July 6, 2011 Revised: August 17, 2011