3D-printing advanced ZIF-67@aluminum phosphate/Al₂O₃ ceramic catalyst by aluminum phosphate-assisted surface bonding

Abstract

The 3D-printed ceramic catalyst has a broad range of application prospects. Notably, the ZIF-67-loaded 3D-printed ceramic catalyst demonstrates exceptional catalytic performance and a high degree of structural design flexibility. However, the ceramics prepared by the direct loading of ZIF-67 onto ceramic substrates during 3D printing show insufficient catalytic stability. In this study, aluminum phosphate (AP) was used as a binder to enhance the adhesion between ZIF-67 and the Al₂O₃ ceramic support surface, thereby reducing ZIF-67 shedding and preventing the degradation of the catalytic performance of the 3D-printed ceramic catalyst. Consequently, after six cycles, the conversion rate of 4-nitrophenol with ZIF-67/Al₂O₃ decreased by 31%, whereas that with ZIF-67@AP/Al₂O₃ decreased by only 5.4%. The reasons for the high catalytic stability of ZIF-67@AP/Al₂O₃ were comprehensively and meticulously investigated. The proposed synthesis strategy, which utilizes AP to facilitate the bonding of ZIF-67 to the Al₂O₃ ceramic scaffold, offers a novel approach for enhancing the catalytic stability of 3D-printed ceramic catalysts loaded with active species through self-growth methods. This approach is expected to guide future research on efficient catalytic systems for various applications.

Keywords

Direct ink writing / Ceramic catalyst / ZIF-67 / 3D printing

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFE0209900), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB0470303), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFB4600101), the Central Government to Guide Local Technology Development Program (23ZYQA315), and the Oasis Scholar of Shihezi University.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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