3D printing of structured catalysts for advanced bio-fuel production

Muxina Konarova^a, Jorge Beltramini^a, Victor Rudolph^b and Lianzhou Wang^a*

^aAustralian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, ^bSchool of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

3D printing provides a method for precisely formed flow channels in which fast kinetics can be combined with optimal temperature management, providing opportunity for reducing reactor size by a factor of 10 or more along with very high product specificity. 3D printing allows the catalyst to be placed into the desired geometry: by tuning the size and length of the flow channels, the bulk residence time and pressure drop over the reactor are precisely set; and the catalyst material properties and diffusion lengths can be controlled by manipulating the thickness and porosity of the catalyst bulk layers¹. Fig 1 shows internal microstructure of 3D printed NiMo/C catalysts and catalyst particle dispersion on the carbon support. More details on microstructure and catalytic properties will be presented during the presentation.

References

¹X. Zhou, C.-j. Liu, Advanced Functional Materials, 1701134-n/a. 2017 Three-dimensional Printing for

Catalytic Applications: Current Status and Perspectives

Biographic Details

Muxina Konarova
Advance Qld Research Fellow (Early Career)
Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)
The University of Queensland
Brisbane Cnr College and Cooper Roads
QLD 4072 Australia
Work Phone +61 7 3346 3836
Email: m.konarova@uq.edu.au
Research interests: Heterogenous catalysts, CO₂ thermochemical/photo reduction, photocatalysts, microchannel reactors and 3D printing of porous media