Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R41637/01
Title:	Supercritical CO2: Heterogeneous Adsorption and Reaction.
Principal Investigator:	Chadwick, Professor D
Other Investigators:	McLeod, Dr A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Materials
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 April 2002	Ends:	31 January 2006	Value (£):	130,575
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Catalysis & Applied Catalysis Chemical Synthetic Methodology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Chemicals No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:	GR/R39566/01
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The use of supercritical C02 (scC02) as a benign solvent and in homogeneous catalysis has received a great deal of attention in academic and industrial laboratories world-wide. In contrast, there has bean little published work on the use of scC02 as a reactant and in heterogeneous catalysis The aim of this work is to gain a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of scC02 activation on supported metal catalysts. The foundations fo this new subject lie in a study of the thermodynamics and kinetics of scC02 adsorption and in the nature of the molecular interaction between scCOS and the catalyst surface. Additionally, remarkable effects of scC02 on the co-adsorption of H20/H2 have recently been observed, e.g. the action of scC02 as a desiccant. These phenomena will be investigated by (1) measuring multicomponent adsorption isotherms varying pressure from sub- to super-critical, (2) in-situ high pressure IR spectroscopy to identify surface species and probe the interactions, and (3) molecular dynamics / Monte C. simulations of surface adsorption and activation. Further, the microkinetics of scC02 activation will be studied with the aid of a model reaction where adsorption phenomena and surface interactions are known to play a major role in the reaction mechanism. Hence, methanol synthesis from C02/H: severely inhibited by competitive adsorption of the byproduct H20.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk