Development of a high-throughput methodology for screening coking resistance of modified thin-film catalysts.

A high-throughput optical technique has been developed for the rapid screening of coking resistant composition-spread promoted-catalyst libraries during hydrocarbon cracking, in particular for Jet Propellant 8(JP-8) cracking. The libraries are screened by measuring changes in the catalyst’s surface color due to the accumulation and burnoff of coke from the surface during JP-8 exposure and catalyst regeneration via oxygen burnoff. This rapid screening method was validated through a comparison of the coking properties of high-surface area powder cracking catalysts, and sputter deposited samples. Experiments on bimetallic (Pt–Gd) catalysts showed systematic trends consistently illustrating the superiority of Pt–Gd alloys to coking due to the presence of gadolinium.