Interfacial Engineering Approaches for Solving Mass and Heat Transfer Limitations in Heterogeneous Catalysis

Author

Xiaoshen Bai, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CollegeFollow

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Cain Department of Chemical Engineering

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This work studies the mass and heat transfer issues in heterogeneous catalysis by means of interfacial engineering approaches. Specifically, it deals with two topics: plastic-catalyst interfaces for mass transfer problems in plastic depolymerization and electric heater-catalyst interfaces for heat transfer problems in highly endothermic reactions.

Mass transfer is among the major challenges in heterogeneous catalytic reactions that involve large reactant molecules. One notable example is the depolymerization of plastic waste catalyzed by solid catalysts, which occurs at the interfaces between solid catalysts and solid plastic if operated below the melting points of plastics. The catalytic efficiency is largely constrained by the poor interfacial contact between solid catalysts and solid plastics. In this work, we studied the heterogeneous catalyst layer on polyethylene terephthalate surfaces and extended this method to polycarbonate and polyamide depolymerization. We demonstrated that the construction of plastic-catalyst solid-solid interfaces enables solvent-free depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate by vapor phase methanolysis at relatively low temperatures.

Another topic of the proposed research is solving heat transfer problems in heterogeneous catalysis. We developed internal electric heating to shorten the heat transfer distance between the heating source and catalytic sites. The new design holds promise in decarbonizing the heating process in several major endothermic reactions. Proper integration of catalyst layers onto electric heaters represents a major challenge for the new design. We explored interfacial engineering approaches to address this challenge. The results showed success in solution deposition of nickel oxide nanostructures and washcoating of fumed SiO₂ and zeolite layer catalysts onto nickel metal foam. We studied the catalytic performance and energy efficiency of these catalysts in methane reforming and prepared for alkane dehydrogenation/cracking using electric heating.

Date

8-14-2025

Recommended Citation

Bai, Xiaoshen, "Interfacial Engineering Approaches for Solving Mass and Heat Transfer Limitations in Heterogeneous Catalysis" (2025). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6898.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6898

Committee Chair

Dr. Ding, Kunlun