Low-Temperature Oxidation of Methanol with the Assistance of Platinum Nanoparticles

Abstract

Room-temperature ignition and self-sustained combustion of methanol on platinum nanoparticles is investigated. Nano-scaled materials, in comparison to their classical, bulkphase counterparts offer a significant enhancement of desirable properties for combustion such as reactivity, surface area, dispersion ability. Oxidation of reactants occurs heterogeneously on the surface of platinum particles, which offers lower reaction temperatures, much wider range of acceptable equivalence ratios, and room-temperature ignition. Experiments were conducted on a specifically built flow reactor, where measurements of temperatures and species concentrations were performed during oxidation of methanol/air mixtures at lean equivalence ratios. The study quantifies effect of reactants flowrate on catalyst activity, evaluates composition of oxidation products, and assesses catalytic conversion efficiency. Results of microscope analysis of the catalytic nanoparticles are also presented.