 | Ohsung Kwonoskwon2 at Illinois dot edu |
Project Description: As a green and efficient process, the catalytic system of Ti-incorporated zeolite with hydrogen peroxide has gathered industrial and academic interests for an environmentally benign synthesis method of epoxides. Optimization of the microenvironment nearby the catalyst surfaces can significantly increase the rates and selectivity. This study aims to develop synthesis methods to control the crystallographic location of active sites in Ti-zeolite structures, and monitor the effect of interactions between zeolite defect sites and condensed solvent molecules inside confined pore structures, both in the steady-state gas and liquid phase systems. In-situ infrared spectroscopy and selective site titration methods are introduced to monitor the interactions among solvent, active sites, pore walls, and the transition state for better understandings of epoxidation kinetics and thermodynamics.