Insight in kinetics from pre-edge features using time resolved in situ XAS

The kinetics of reduction of a 10 wt %Fe2O3-MgAl2O4 spinel were investigated using XRD and time resolved Fe-K QXANES. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD pattern showed the replacement of Al with Fe in the spinel structure and the formation of MgFeAlOx. The XANES pre-edge feature was employed to study the reduction kinetics during H-2-TPR (Temperature Programmed Reduction) up to 730 degrees C. About 55% of the Fe3+ in MgFeAlOx was reduced to Fe2+. A shrinking core model, which takes into account both solid-state diffusion via an oxygen diffusion coefficient, and gas-solid reaction through a reaction rate coefficient, was applied. The activation energy for chemical reaction showed a linear dependence on the conversion, increasing from 104 to 126 kJ/mol over the course of material reduction. The good accordance between the shrinking core model description and the experimental data indicates that XANES pre-edge features can be used to correlate changes in material structure and reaction kinetics. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1339-1349, 2018