Mass transfer in low-density xerogel catalysts

Texture and morphology of a Pd-Ag/SiO2 hydrodechlorination low-density xerogel catalyst prepared by a cogelation sot-gel process were characterized in detail to examine mass transfer in such catalysts. The catalyst consists of active Pd-Ag nanocrystallites trapped inside elementary 20 nm microporous silica particles arranged in larger aggregates, which constitute the macroscopic pellet. To reach active sites, reactants must first diffuse through large pores located between aggregates of SiO2 Particles and then through smaller pores located between those elementary particles inside the aggregates. Finally, they, diffuse through micropores located inside silica particles. Diffusion in such a "funnel" structure cannot be described assimilating the pellet to a pseudo-continuum. Diffusion should be examined carefully at three levels of decreasing size: the macroscopic pellet, the aggregate of silica particles, and the elementary silica particle. This approach shows that cogelled xerogel catalysts have remarkable mass-transfer properties.