J. Phys. Chem. C vol. 112, iss. 51

Two Kinds of Framework Al Sites Studied in BEA Zeolite by X-ray Diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, NMR Techniques, and V Probe

Redouane Hajjar†‡, Yannick Millot*†‡, Pascal P. Man†‡, Michel Che§∥⊥ and Stanislaw Dzwigaj*§∥

J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112 (51), pp 20167–20175

Abstract: The dealumination of BEA zeolite by treatment with concentrated nitric acid is evidenced by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Two-dimensional 27Al 3Q and 5Q magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR allow the detection of two kinds of tetrahedral Al atoms whose relative amounts depend on the Si/Al ratio and which correspond to two specific T-sites. 29Si MAS NMR and 1H MAS NMR measurements confirm these results. 29Si MAS NMR spectra evidence two resonances at around −114 and −111 ppm ascribed to Si sites of the Si(OSi)4 environment of two different crystallographic sites. Moreover, the presence of Si atoms associated with hydroxyl groups is confirmed by a resonance at −102 ppm when 1H−29Si CP is applied. The Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites in dealuminated BEA zeolites are evidenced by FTIR spectra of adsorbed pyridine which show two kinds of bridging hydroxyl groups (Si−O(H)−Al) of different acid strength. 51V MAS NMR confirms the incorporation of vanadium atoms into vacant T-atom sites of a fully dealuminated SiBEA zeolite leading to two kinds of tetrahedral V(V) sites (δiso = – 708 and – 766 ppm), with a V=O double bond and linked by V−OSi bonds to the framework. The two types of tetrahedral V(V) sites are in line with the two kinds of tetrahedral Al sites initially present in the zeolite. Moreover, the two bands at 3620 and 3645 cm−1 suggest that VSiBEA also contains V(V) sites with V(V)O−H groups, which exhibit Brønsted acidic character as shown by FTIR of adsorbed pyridine. Possible ways for the formation of tetrahedral V(V) in the BEA structure are proposed.





Direct Correlation between the 31P MAS NMR Response and the Electronic Structure of Some Transition Metal Phosphides
E. Bekaert†, J. Bernardi‡, S. Boyanov‡, L. Monconduit‡, M.-L. Doublet*‡ and M. Ménétrier*†

J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112 (51), pp 20481–20490

Abstract: A series of binary transition metal phosphides (Ni3P, Ni12P5, Ni2P, Ni5P4, NiP, NiP2, FeP, FeP2, FeP4, VP2, CoP) were investigated by solid state 31P MAS NMR, leading to rather different lineshapes, shifts, relaxation times, and temperature dependences. The electronic structures of these compounds were computed using various DFT codes, based either on plane wave PAW potentials (VASP) or on all-electron basis sets in the FPLAPW formalism (Wien2K). Depending on the electronic features of the phosphide, self-interaction corrected formalisms (DFT+U or PBE0 hybrid functional) were also used to reach a better description of the electronic ground state and to establish a correlation with the shape and the nature of the NMR signals. As a result of the analysis, the main categories are diamagnetic compounds (FeP4, NiP2) and metallic ones, either real (VP2) or with some electronic localization in band tails (Ni12P5, Ni2P, Ni5P4, NiP) or with spin-polarized conduction bands (CoP, FeP). FeP2 appears somewhat ambiguous, both based on the various computational results and on the NMR characteristics. Besides, FeP4 is the only compound for which very clear J couplings resulting from P−P bonds were observed