Nickel incorporated into anodic porous alumina formed on an aluminium wire

Abstract

Porous alumina films have been prepared on the surface of an aluminium wire by anodic oxidation in an oxalic acid electrolyte. The pore size could be controlled by the anode potential, and the thickness of the alumina film was a function of the anodizing time as well as the anode potential used. Silica powders containing finely divided Ni metal particles were incorporated into the micropores of the alumina films, which were then used as wire catalysts. The wire catalyst did not require any supplementary heating during catalytic reactions, since after 1 min of applying a small voltage across the ends of the wire, a temperature of 573 K could be reached. The catalytic performance of the nickel particles mounted in the aluminium wires for the hydrogenation of but-1-ene was measured and compared with that of a conventional supported-nickel catalyst.