Structure and function of oxide nanostructures: catalytic consequences of size and composition

Abstract

Redox and acid–base properties of dispersed oxide nanostructures change markedly as their local structure and electronic properties vary with domain size. These changes give rise to catalytic behavior, site structures, and reaction chemistries often unavailable on bulk crystalline oxides. Turnover rates for redox and acid catalysis vary as oxide domains evolve from isolated monomers to two-dimensional oligomers, and ultimately into clusters with bulk-like properties. These reactivity changes reflect the ability of oxide domains to accept or redistribute electron density in kinetically-relevant reduction steps, in the formation of temporary acid sites via reductive processes, and in the stabilization of cationic transition states. Reduction steps are favored by low-lying empty orbitals prevalent in larger clusters, which also favor electron delocalization, stable anions, and strong Brønsted acidity. Isomerization of xylenes and alkanes, elimination reactions of alkanols, and oxidation of alkanes to alkenes on V, Mo, Nb, and W oxide domains are used here to demonstrate the remarkable catalytic diversity made available by changes in domain size. The reactive and disordered nature of small catalytic domains introduces significant challenges in their synthesis and their structural and mechanistic characterization, which require in situprobes and detailed kinetic analysis. The local structure and electronic properties of these materials must be probed during catalysis and their catalytic function be related to specific kinetically-relevant steps. Structural uniformity can be imposed on oxide clusters by the use of polyoxometalate clusters with thermodynamically stable and well-defined size and connectivity. These clusters provide the compositional diversity and the structural fidelity required to develop composition-function relations from synergistic use of experiments and theory. In these clusters, the valence and electronegativity of the central atom affects the acid strength of the polyoxometalate clusters and the rate constants for acid catalyzed elementary steps via the specific stabilization of cationic transition states in isomerization and elimination reactions.