Rate Constant Approximation with Cubic Splines for Kinetic Analysis of Temperature-Programmed Reduction Data

摘要

Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) is a widely used method for characterization of oxide-based catalysts, sorbents, and functional materials, but its results lack quantitative assessment. Here, we present a novel approach to kinetic analysis of the TPR that can be applied to a large variety of systems involving multiple limiting stages. Implementation of cubic splines to approximate rate constant vs. conversion dependencies obtained from several TPR curves recorded at different heating rates yields in a set of kinetic parameters (activation energy and preexponential factors) for all reduction stages. Relationship between preexponential factor of the first reduction stage and the specific surface area of the sample has been shown. Reduction of hematite has been studied to prove the performance of the developed kinetic analysis technique.