The structure and activity of potassium supported on SBA-15 molecular sieve: Density functional theory study

Abstract

The geometries, vibrational frequencies, electronic properties and reactivity of potassium supported on SBA-15 have been theoretically investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) method. The structural model of the potassium supported on SBA-15 was constructed based on our previous work [Wang ZX, Wang DX, Zhao Z, Chen Y, Lan J, A DFT study of the structural units in SBA-15 mesoporous molecular sieve, Comput. Theor. Chem.963, 403, 2011]. This paper is the extension of our previous work. The most favored location of potassium atom was obtained by the calculation of substitution energy. The calculated vibrational frequencies of K /SBA-15 are in good agreement with the experimental results. By analyzing the properties of electronic structure, we found that the O atom of Si - O (2)- K group acts as the Lewis base center and the K atom acts as the Lewis acid center. The reactivity of K /SBA-15 was investigated by calculating the activation of oxygen molecule. The oxygen molecule can be activated by K /SBA-15 with an energy barrier of 103.2 kJ/mol. In the final state, the activated oxygen atoms become new Lewis acid centers, which are predicted to act as the active sites in the catalytic reactions. This study provides a deep insight into the properties of supported potassium catalysts and offers fundamental information for further research.