Skip to main content
  • Paul Scherrer Institut PSI
  • PSI Research, Labs & User Services

Digital User Office

  • Digital User Office
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)
Search
Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI)

Hauptnavigation

  • Research at PSIOpen mainmenu item
    • Research Initiatives
    • Ethics and Research integrity
    • Scientific Highlights
    • Scientific Events
    • Scientific Career
    • PSI-FELLOW
    • PSI Data Policy
  • Research Divisions and LabsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Research with Neutrons and Muons
    • Photon Science
    • Energy and Environment
    • Nuclear Energy and Safety
    • Biology and Chemistry
    • Scientific Computing, Theory and Data
    • Large Research Facilities
    • Logistics
  • Facilities and InstrumentsOpen mainmenu item
    • Overview
    • Large Research Facilities
    • Facilities
    • PSI Facility Newsletter
  • PSI User ServicesOpen mainmenu item
    • User Office
    • Methods at the PSI User Facilities
    • Proposals for beam time
    • Proposal Deadlines
    • Data Analysis Service (PSD)
    • EU support programmes
  • New ProjectsOpen mainmenu item
    • SLS 2.0
    • IMPACT
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR

Digital User Office (mobile)

  • Digital User Office

You are here:

  1. PSI Home
  2. Labs & User Services
  3. ENE
  4. LSK
  5. Scientific Highlights
  6. Mark A. Newton Catalysis Science & Technology

Secondary navigation

Laboratory for Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry (LSK)

  • Groups
  • Projects
    • CrystMAS Project
      • CrystMAS Team
      • CrystMAS Research
      • CrystMAS Publications
      • CrystMAS News
    • NAPP
      • NAPP Team
      • NAPP Research
      • NAPP Publications
  • People
  • Scientific Highlights
  • Publications
  • Books / Book Chapters
  • News
24 May 2019

On isothermality in some commonly used plug flow reactors for X-ray based investigations of catalysts

Newton_Mark_et_al

Understanding how structure relates to function in catalysis and numerous other areas, and on that basis designing better materials, is a central goal of much research. Axiomatic to this idea is that any given experiment, or set of experiments, are conducted such that the results obtained truly reflect the nature of the material under study, and are not distorted in any way as a result of the methods used to obtained them. In this study, we have used both reactive chemistry and infrared imaging to assess how well different experimental arrangements, of types that are commonly used, provide one of the foundations upon which reliable study of materials behavior can be achieved; that, in the absence of any reactive chemistry the sample bed is presented in an of isothermal manner. Whether your intention is to measure kinetics, or just to establish more qualitative structure-function relationships, starting from a position where you know that the entirety of your sample is experiencing the same temperature to an acceptable degree, is fundamental. This is especially so if your probe of structure, as is increasingly the case, samples a volume of the sample that is much, much, smaller than the entirety of the sample bed (upon which most commonly applied  measures of reactivity, such as mass spectrometry and gas chromatography report). This work shows just how easy it can be to get oneself into a decidedly sub-optimal experimental situation when using some commonly supplied and widely used reactor configurations, but also how to avoid them through different methods of reactor characterization and through the adoption of best practice.

Additional Information
Contact

Dr. Mark A. Newton

PostDoc
ETH Zurich
Telephone: +41 44 633 74 60
E-mail: mark.newton@chem.ethz.ch

Original Publication

On isothermality in some commonly used plug flow reactors for X-ray based investigations of catalysts
DOI: 10.1039/C9CY00464E

Sidebar

top

Footer

Paul Scherrer Institut

Forschungsstrasse 111
5232 Villigen PSI
Switzerland

Telephone: +41 56 310 21 11
Telefax: +41 56 310 21 99

How to find us
Contact

Visitor Centre psi forum
School Lab iLab (in German)
Center for Proton Therapy
PSI Education Centre
PSI Guest House
PSI Gastronomie (in German)
psi forum shop

Service & Support

  • Phone Book
  • User Office
  • Accelerator Status
  • PSI Publications
  • Suppliers
  • E-Billing
  • Computing
  • Safety (in German)

Career

  • Working at PSI
  • Job Opportunities
  • Training and further education
  • Career Center
  • Vocational Training (in German)
  • PSI Education Center

For the media

  • PSI in brief
  • Facts and Figures
  • Media corner
  • Media Releases
  • Social Media

Follow us: Twitter (in English) LinkedIn Youtube Facebook Instagram Issuu RSS

Footer legal

  • Imprint
  • Terms and conditions / Privacy policy
  • Editors' login