Microwave-assisted synthesis of carbon-supported carbides catalysts for hydrous hydrazine decomposition

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.jpcs.2016.05.008

Microwave-assisted synthesis of carbon-supported Mo₂C and WC nanomaterials was studied. Two different routes were utilized to prepare MoO₃ (WO₃) - C precursors that were then subjected to microwave irradiation in an inert

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.jpcs.2016.05.008

Author’s Accepted Manuscript
Microwave-assisted Synthesis of Carbon-supported
Carbides Catalysts for Hydrous Hydrazine
Decomposition
Raman Mnatsakanyan, Alina R. Zhurnachyan,
Valery A. Matyshak, Khachatur V. Manukyan,
Alexander S. Mukasyan
www.elsevier.com/locate/jpcs
PII:
S0022-3697(16)30106-8
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2016.05.008
PCS7780
DOI:
Reference:
To appear in:
Journal of Physical and Chemistry of Solids
Received date: 25 January 2016
Revised date: 12 May 2016
Accepted date: 16 May 2016
Cite this article as: Raman Mnatsakanyan, Alina R. Zhurnachyan, Valery A.
Matyshak, Khachatur V. Manukyan and Alexander S. Mukasyan, Microwave-
assisted Synthesis of Carbon-supported Carbides Catalysts for Hydrou
Hydrazine Decomposition, Journal of Physical and Chemistry of Solids
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2016.05.008
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Microwave-assisted Synthesis of Carbon-supported Carbides Catalysts for
Hydrous Hydrazine Decomposition
Raman Mnatsakanyan1*, Alina R. Zhurnachyan1, Valery A. Matyshak2, Khachatur V.
Manukyan3*, Alexander S. Mukasyan4
1Laboratory of Kinetics and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Physics, National Academy of Sciences
of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan 0014, Armenia
2Laboratory of Heterogeneous Catalysis, N.N. Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian
Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia
3Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States
4Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana 46556, United States
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +574 631 6083. kmanukya@nd.edu
Abstract
Microwave-assisted synthesis of carbon-supported Mo2C and WC nanomaterials was studied.
Two different routes were utilized to prepare MoO3 (WO3) - C precursors that were then
subjected to microwave irradiation in an inert atmosphere. The effect of synthesis conditions,
such as irradiation time and gas environment, was investigated. The structure and formation
mechanism of the carbide phases were explored. As-synthesized nanomaterials exhibited
o
catalytic activity for hydrous hydrazine (N2H4·H2O) decomposition at 30 – 70 C. It was
shown that the catalyst activity significantly increases if microwave irradiation is applied
during the decomposition process. Such conditions permit complete conversion of hydrazine
to ammonia and nitrogen within minutes. This effect can be attributed to the unique
nanostructure of the catalysts that includes microwave absorbing carbon and active carbide
constituents.
Keywords: carbides, microwave, synthesis, catalysts, hydrazine decomposition
1

1. Introduction
The catalytic decomposition of anhydrous hydrazine (N2H4) has been of interest for many
years since this process was successfully used as a monopropellant for satellite propulsion
[1–6]. It was shown earlier [2,5–7] that the decomposition of hydrazine involves two routes:
3N2H4 = 4NH3 + N2
N2H4 = N2 + 2H2
(1)
(2)
The reaction pathway depends on the catalyst used and the temperature. Supported metal (Ni,
Pd, and Pt) catalysts allow decomposition of anhydrous hydrazine even at room temperature
[7]. With increasing temperature, the hydrogen selectivity (30–80 oC) increases first, and then
quickly decreases. Above 400oC, the hydrogen selectivity tends to increase again due to the
decomposition of ammonia. Transition metal carbides (e.g. Mo2C, WC) catalysts are also
active in the hydrazine decomposition reaction. For example, a WC catalyst prepared by a
temperature-programmed reduction of WO3 with a CH4/H2 mixture was thoroughly
investigated [5]. The authors indicate that the excess of carbon on the WC surface inhibits
N2H4 decomposition while carbon removal improves the catalytic activity. Alumina-
supported molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) catalysts were prepared by temperature-programmed
reduction and tested in a monopropellant thruster [1]. This catalyst exhibited significant
activity at 50-100 oC. A tungsten carbide - carbon nanotube catalyst was also fabricated by a
microwave-assisted technique [4]. The as-prepared catalyst exhibits 100% hydrazine
o
conversion at temperatures above 100 C and demonstrates high hydrogen selectivity at 600
oC. Below 100 oC, the catalyst is selective for ammonia formation.
Catalytic decomposition of hydrous hydrazine (N2H4·H2O) is considered a promising
process for hydrogen storage applications due to the large amount of available hydrogen (8.0
wt.%) in N2H4·H2O [8–13]. Many metallic (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Ir, Pt and Pd)
2

nanoparticles exhibit measurable catalytic activity for the decomposition of hydrous
o
hydrazine toward hydrogen at temperatures below 80 C [10]. Among those catalysts, Rh
nanoparticles were found to be the most selective (44%) for hydrogen release [14]. Bimetallic
nanoparticles (e.g. Rh-Ni, Pt-Ni, Pd-Ni) show improved catalytic performance and higher
hydrogen selectivity [15–20]. Noble-metal-free bimetallic Ni-Fe nanoparticles were
remarkably active and selective towards hydrogen under moderate temperatures [21]. Highly
dispersed Al2O3-supported Ni catalysts provided 100% conversion and high H2 selectivity for
the decomposition at room temperature [22,23]. The above analysis of the reported literature
indicates that metallic catalysts permit hydrous hydrazine decomposition at relatively low
temperatures. However, it is still unclear whether transition metal carbides (e.g. Mo2C, WC),
are also able to catalyze the decomposition of hydrous hydrazine at such low temperatures.
Here, we report the microwave-assisted synthesis of carbon-supported nanostructured
Mo2C and WC catalysts, which were tested for hydrous hydrazine decomposition at relatively
low temperatures. We show that microwave irradiation significantly increases the activity of
catalysts during hydrous hydrazine decomposition due to the unique combination of
microwave absorbing carbon and active carbide nanoparticles. Such catalysts permit
complete conversion of hydrous hydrazine to ammonia and nitrogen within minutes.
2. Materials & Methods
2.2. Preparation of catalysts
Two different routes were used to prepare MoO3-C and WO3-C catalyst precursors. Reactants
in both routes were calculated assuming 70 wt.% of carbide loading in the catalysts. In the
first route, 3 g of molybdenum (99.5% pure, the particle size of 10 mm) or tungsten (99.7%
pure, the particle size of 2 mm) powders were dissolved in 100 ml of 15% hydrogen peroxide
solution to obtain peroxo-complexes of corresponding metals. Then 1 ml isopropanol and 2 g
3

carbon (Vulcan XC-72) were added to the resulting solutions and slowly mixed using a
magnetic stirrer for 30 min, and further homogenized ultrasonically for 10 min. The as-
o
o
prepared slurries were dried at 80 C. The resulting solids were heated to 250 C for two
hours in airflow to ensure decomposition of peroxo-complexes yielding carbon-supported
MoO3 or WO3 precursors. In the second route, 5.5 g of ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate,
(NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O, was dissolved in 50 ml of deionized water. One ml of isopropanol and
2 g of carbon were added to the solution and mixed as in the previous route. Dried mixtures
o
were then placed into a tube reactor and heated at 300 C for four hours in nitrogen flow to
prepare the MoO3-C precursor.
Microwave-assisted synthesis of carbon-supported metal carbides was performed in a
quartz tube reactor in a nitrogen flow. The precursor was placed in the reactor, which was
then purged with nitrogen for 0.5-2 h at room temperature. A microwave oven, with a
frequency of 2.45 GHz and 900W, was used to irradiate the tube for up to 480 s. The set of
microwave irradiation impulses with 20 s duration and with 5 s in between each impulse was
used to avoid excessive heating of the samples.
2.2. Precursors and Catalysts Characterization
The crystallinity and phase composition of the catalysts were determined by X-ray diffraction
(XRD) analysis with Ni-filtered Cu Kα radiation (D8 Advance, Bruker or DRON3.0,
Burivestnik) operated at 40 kV and 40 mA. BET specific surface area was determined by an
ASAP 2020 apparatus (Micromeritics). Before analysis, the samples were dried at room
temperature and then degassed in vacuum at 120 oC for 15 h.
Scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to
characterize the composition and morphology of the catalysts, as well as their atomic
structure. The microstructural analysis was conducted in a field emission SEM Magellan 400
(FEI), with a resolution of 0.6 nm, which is also equipped with energy dispersive X-ray
4

spectrometer (EDS, Bruker) with an energy resolution of 123 eV. A Titan (FEI) transmission
electron microscope (TEM) with a resolution of 0.136 nm in scanning TEM mode and about
0.1 nm information limit in high resolution TEM mode was also used. The Titan is equipped
with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, Oxford Inc.) system with a spectral
energy resolution of 130 eV.
A thermogravimetric analyzer and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC/TG,
Setaram) coupled with a mass spectrometer (Pfeiffer Vacuum) were used to analyze the
gasses that desorb during the heating of catalysts. In these experiments, 0.05 g of catalysts is
o
heated to 600 C at a 10 C/min heating rate in an atmosphere of 99.99 % nitrogen with a
o
flow rate of 20 cm3/min. The recording rate of evolved gases was 10 data points per second.
2.3. Catalytic experiments
The catalytic tests were performed by placing 0.5 g of catalyst and 5 ml of diluted (1 M)
solution of hydrous hydrazine into a preheated (70 oC) glass reactor for up to 8 min. After the
experiment, the solid catalysts were rapidly separated from the solution, and the
concentration of hydrous hydrazine was measured by iodometric titration according to the
GOST protocol # 19503-88 [24]. Kinetics of hydrous hydrazine decomposition was
investigated under microwave irradiation. In these experiments, 5 ml of 1 M hydrous
hydrazine solution was poured into a Teflon-lined autoclave with a volume of 65 cm3 and
then 0.5 g of catalyst powder was added. The closed autoclave was placed in the microwave
oven. Continuous microwave irradiation of autoclave at the power of 180 W was performed
for 10-240 s. The autoclave was opened, and the temperature of the solution was measured by
inserting a K-type thermocouple probe. Such measurements revealed that 3 min of
microwave irradiation increases the temperature of the solution to ~70 oC.
5

3. Results and discussion
3.1. Synthesis and characterization of catalysts
The effects of gas environment, duration of irradiation, as well as composition of the
precursors, are optimized for the preparation of catalysts. At minimum, two hours of nitrogen
flow for is necessary to obtain desired metal carbide – carbon catalysts. Shorter purge
durations result in products that consist of metal oxides and carbides. The presence of oxygen
during synthesis leads to oxidation of carbon and reduces the quantity of carbide phases.
The influence of microwave irradiation duration on the composition of the product
was first studied using initial mixtures prepared from ammonium molybdate (AM). Figure
1A shows that after 0.5 min of irradiation the sample consists of MoO3, MoO2 and Mo2C
phases. After 1 min of irradiation, the diffraction peaks of MoO3 disappeared, and the
intensity of MoO2 peaks decreased significantly. The sample treated for 2 min primarily
consists of the Mo2C and trace MoO2 (Figure 1A). The experiments using a peroxo-complex
(PC) of Mo as precursor exhibited similar results (not shown) with partial reduction of MoO3
to MoO2 and subsequent formation of Mo2C. XRD pattern of a product with peroxo-complex
precursor irradiated for 3 min shows only Mo2C peaks (Figure 1A).
The phase formation sequence in WC-forming system is different as compared to
Mo2C. Figure 1B demonstrates that 3 min irradiation of tungsten peroxo-complex precursor
results in a product that consists of W, W2C and WC. Pure-phase WC can be produced only
after 8 minutes of irradiation.
In situ thermogravimetry and mass spectrometry were used to study thermal
desorption characteristics of catalysts. The results of these analyses show that Mo2C-C
catalyst (prepared by ammonium molybdate) contains significant amounts of adsorbed carbon
dioxide (Figure 2A). Mass-spectroscopy provides evidence that desorption peaks of CO2 (m/z
numbers of 44, 28 and 16) are located at ~250, 370, and 570 oC. Stepwise desorption of CO2
6

indicates that the surface of the catalyst is energetically non-uniform. This result also
evdanced that the chemisorbed CO2 on the surface of catalysts exists at least in three different
forms. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that, upon heating, the carbide catalysts lose much
more weight than the initial carbon (Figure 2B).
SEM images of initial carbon nanoparticles and catalysts are summarized in Figure 3.
The size of initial carbon nanoparticles is ~50 nm (Figure 3A). The catalyst produced from
the ammonium molybdate precursor after 2 min of irradiation has similar sizes of carbon
nanoparticles (Figure 3B). Figure 3C indicates that the sample fabricated from the
molybdenum peroxo-complex precursor (with 3 min irradiation time) has slightly larger
particles (50-70 nm). The particle size of optimized WC-C catalysts (8 min of irradiation
time) is in the range of 300-500 nm (Figure 3D).
The results of TEM analysis of Mo2C-C catalyst prepared from a molybdenum peoxo-
complex precursor is shown in Figure 4. Selected area diffraction (SAD) pattern (inset in
Figure 4A) and EDS analysis suggests that the lighter particles (SAD, in upper left corner)
are amorphous carbon, while darker nanoparticles (SAD, left lower corner) are the crystalline
Mo2C phase. High-magnification TEM images demonstrate that the sizes of Mo2C and
carbon nanoparticles are indeed comparable (Figure 4B). Both Figure 4A and 4B indicate that
Mo2C and carbon nanoparticles are anchored to each other. However, high-resolution TEM
images of carbon (Figure 4C) and Mo2C (Figure 4D) nanoparticles exhibit significant
differences in structure. Carbon nanoparticles are amorphous and highly porous with pore
sizes 0.5-0.7 nm, while Mo2C nanoparticles are crystalline and free of pores.
BET surface area data of initial carbon is 204 m2/g (Table 1). The surface area of
Mo2C-C catalysts is 32 and 24 m2/g for ammonium molybdate and peroxo-complex
precursors, respectively. The lowest surface area, 10 m2/g, is exhibited by the WC-C catalyst
prepared from peroxo-complex precursor for 8 min of microwave irradiation. The differences
7

in the surface area of the carbon and products are more pronounced as compared to their
particle sizes. It should be noted that the surface area of pure carbon after 3 min of
microwave irradiation decreases from 204 to 149 m2/g. This result indicates that microwave
heating alone is not the major factor contributing to the severe decrease in surface area of
products.
Nitrogen adsorption/desorption curves for carbon, irradiated carbon and Mo2C-C
catalysts (Figure 5) have the characteristic feature of Type III isotherm according to IUPAC
classification with a narrow hysteresis loop. Isotherms of such shape indicate the presence of
micropores while a small hysteresis loop suggest evidence of some mesopores too. Nearly
identical shapes of isotherms suggest that nitrogen adsorption in Mo2C-C catalysts
predominantly takes place in porous carbon nanoparticles. As the total volume of carbon
nanoparticles decreases due to the formation of pore-free Mo2C nanoparticles, the sample
adsorbs less nitrogen.
It is known that the vapor pressure of MoO3 at temperatures in the range 400 - 600oC
is relatively high (0.1 – 0.5 kPa) [25]. Earlier works [26],[27] suggest that carbon reduces
MoO3 at this temperatures by the following reaction:
2MoO3(vapor) + C(s) = 2MoO2(s) + CO2(g)
(3)
Our TEM studies reveal that Mo2C nanoparticles are pore-free and have similar sizes to the
initial carbon nanoparticles. This finding and a significant decrease in the surface area of the
product allowed us to hypothesize that MoO3 vapor infiltrates into the porous carbon
nanoparticles, and MoO2 grows inside the pores via reaction 3 (see Figure 6). It was also
shown previously that MoO2 further reduces to molybdenum followed by formation of Mo2C
o
at 650-900 C [27]. In our study, the intermediate Mo phase has not been observed during
microwave-assisted synthesis (Figure 1). It is possible that, following solid-state carbidizaton,
8

the reaction may be significantly accelerated due to the shorter diffusion distances of MoO2
and carbon inside MoO2/C composite particles (Figure 6):
2MoO2(s) + 5C(s) = Mo2C(s) + 4CO(g)
(4)
In contrast to Mo2C, the formation of WC occurs by a different pathway. XRD
analysis shows the multistage conversion of WO3 to WC through W and W2C phases that is
consistent with previously reported data [28-30] It should be noted that vapor pressure of
o
WO3 at 700-1000 C is only ~10-4 kPa 24. Therefore, the reduction of WO3 to W is slow. It
was also shown that the synthesis of WC using the WO3+C mixture can be achieved only at
o
900-1000 C [28]. Clearly, longer microwave irradiation significantly decreases the porosity
of the carbon nanoparticles and creates an additional diffusion limitation during the carbide
formation stage.
3.2.Catalytic activity
The catalytic activities of Mo2C-C and WC-C for hydrous hydrazine decomposition were
investigated in the temperature range 25-70 oC. Both catalysts show conversion of hydrazine
o
at temperatures above 50 C. Kinetics of hydrazine decomposition for catalysts at 70oC are
shown in Figure 7. These data indicate that for Mo2C-C catalysts, conversion of hydrazine
increases linearly to ~20% during the first 4 min of the process. In the case of WC-C catalyst,
the maximum conversion (10%) is reached in 4 min. It should be noted that the loading of the
carbide phase in both catalysts is ~70 wt% indicating that Mo2C has higher catalytic activity
as compared to WC. Such a distinct difference of catalytic activates may be attributed to the
significantly smaller particle size of Mo2C relative to WC (Figure 2). Gas chromatography
analysis of effluents reveals the presence of ammonia and nitrogen indicating incomplete
decomposition of hydrous hydrazine by reaction (1). Irradiated carbon nanoparticles are not
9

active for hydrazine decomposition at the studied temperatures. This means that the activity
of the investigated catalysts is related to the carbide phases only.
We have studied the microwave-assisted catalytic decomposition of hydrous
hydrazine (Figure 7). These results demonstrate that microwave irradiation with 180W power
leads to a significant increase in the activity of both catalysts. It can be seen that hydrazine
fully decomposes within 4 min of irradiation using Mo2C-C catalysts while conversion for
WC-C catalysis is ~55%. It is worth noting that the results of the effluent gas analysis show
ammonia and nitrogen again, as main gas products. Also, microwave-assisted catalytic
experiments indicate that pure carbon is active for hydrazine decomposition. However,
conversion of hydrazine is less than 5% during 4 min of the process.
We postulated that the significant increase in catalytic activity in microwave-assisted
experiments was related to the combination of the carbon nanostructure and active carbide
phase. Previously, similar carbon - ceramic nanoparticles composites with unusual catalytic
and gas-sensing properties were also reported [31,32]. Indeed, carbon is known as an
excellent absorber of microwave irradiation [33]. Therefore, the local temperature on the
surface of catalysts during microwave irradiation may be higher than the average temperature
of the hydrazine solution.
4. Conclusions
Microwave irradiation permits controllable synthesis of Mo2C-C and WC-C nanomaterials.
Microwave heating allows rapid vaporization of MoO3 precursors that react with micro-
porous carbon resulting in MoO2/C composite powders, followed by formation of the Mo2C
phase. In the WO3-C system, the conversion of WO3 to WC requires longer irradiation due to
the formation of W and W2C intermediate phases. Mo2C-C and WC-C nanomaterials
o
exhibited catalytic activity for hydrous hydrazine (N2H4·H2O) decomposition at 30-70 C.
10

The activity of catalysts increases significantly if microwave irradiation is applied during the
decomposition process. This effect is related to the selective heating of catalysts which
contain microwave absorbing carbon and active carbide nanoparticles.
Acknowledgments
Support from NFSAT and CRDF Global (Project # YSSP 13-21) is acknowledged. The
Author also would like to thank Sergei Rouvimov (Notre Dame Imaging integrated facility, at
University of Notre Dame) for his assistance in TEM analysis.
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Figure Captions
Figure 1 Results of XRD analysis of Mo2C-C (A) and WC-C (B) catalysts synthesized at
different microwave irradiation duration utilizing ammonium molybdate (AM) and peroxo-
complex (PC) precursors.
Figure 2 Dynamic mass-spectrometry (A) of gases release during heating of Mo2C-C catalyst
(mass-to-charge ratios of 16, 28, and 44 indicate CO2 realize) and thermo-gravimetric
analysis (B) of the catalysts.
Figure 3 SEM images of carbon (A), Mo2C synthesized utilizing ammonium molybdate with
2 min irradiation (B) and Mo peroxo-complex (C) precursor with 2 min of irradiation, and
WC synthesized using tungsten peroxo-complex with 8 min of irradiation (D).
Figure 4 Results of TEM analysis of Mo2C-C catalyst: Bright field image with selected area
diffraction patterns (A), high magnification TEM image of Mo2C and carbon nanoparticles as
well as their high resolution TEM images, respectively.
Figure 5 Nitrogen adsorption (solid symbols) and desorption isotherms (open symbols) for
initial carbon (curve a), carbon after 2 min of microwave irradiation (b) and Mo2C-C catalyst
(c) synthesized using ammonium molybdate recourse.
Figure 6 Schematic representation of phase formation mechanism during microwave-assisted
synthesis of Mo2C.
Figure 7 Conversion of hydrous hydrazine.
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Table 1 Surface area of initial carbon and catalysts
Material
Precursor
Duration of
microwave
irradiation, min
0
Surface area, m2/g
Initial
Initial
204
149
32
Carbon
Carbon
Mo2C-C
3
2
Ammonium
molybdate
Peroxy-complex
of molybdenum
Peroxy-complex
of tungsten
3
8
24
10
Mo2C-C
WC-C
Highlights
ꢀ
Microwave-assisted synthesis of Mo2C-C and WC-C nanomaterials is
reported.
ꢀ
ꢀ
Two different mechanisms of syntheses of carbide phase are proposed.
Carbon-supported carbides are highly active in hydrazine decomposition
reaction.
14