Chemical Vapor Deposition of Al₁₃Fe₄ Highly Selective Catalytic Films for the Semi‐Hydrogenation of Acetylene

Abstract

Catalytic properties of coatings containing the Al13Fe4 intermetallic phase are tested in the reaction of semi‐hydrogenation of acetylene. The selectivity to ethylene is found as high as 74% close to the reported values for pure, unsupported Al13Fe4. The initial conversion of acetylene to ethylene is 84% and rapidly drops due to the catalytic formation of carbon‐based by‐products on secondary Al‐Fe phases. Coatings are processed through sequential chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of aluminum (5 Torr, 180 °C) and iron (40 Torr, 140 °C) layers, followed by in situ annealing for 60 min at 575 °C. Deposition proceeds at high growth rate, resulting in 15 μm thick films. After annealing, coatings are composed of the Al13Fe4 phase, co‐existing with minor secondary Al‐Fe intermetallic phases. Overall, it is shown that films containing complex Al‐Fe intermetallic phases can be processed by CVD, opening new routes to the engineering of pure, supported Al13Fe4 catalysts on 3D or porous supports.

Electronic structure of β−Al3Mg2 and Al13Fe4<

“…Al 13 Fe 4 has recently drawn the interest of various research groups due to its remarkable chemical properties. It has been proposed to be a low cost environmentally benign catalyst for organic reactions [13][14][15][16]. Al 13 Fe 4 also exhibits a significant anisotropy in its electronic and magnetic properties, the stacking direction being the most conducting direction for heat and electricity [17].…”

Microstructure and Catalytic Activity of Al13Fe4 and Al13Co4 Melt-Spun Alloys

“…They are homotypic phases with unique catalytic properties resulting from active centers in a well-defined structure (Piccolo et al, 2019). Catalytic tests on Al 13 Fe 4 materials were carried out by Armbrüster et al (2012) and Aviziotis et al (2019). The monoclinic Al 13 Fe 4 phase is an approximant to decagonal Al–Fe and icosahedral i-AlFeCu quasicrystalline phases (Barbier et al, 1993; Saitoh et al, 1999).…”