Periodic Open Cellular Raney-Copper Catalysts Fabricated via Selective Electron Beam Melting

Abstract

Herein, the possibility of generating Raney-Copper catalysts with high geometric complexity is demonstrated. For this, periodic open cellular structures (POCS) composed of a highly brittle Al–Cu alloy containing 29.4 at% copper are fabricated by selective electron beam melting (SEBM) for application in chemical reaction engineering. After selective leaching of aluminum in an NaOH solution, the POCS show a core–shell structure with a nanoporous copper surface layer and a solid core. The fabrication and dealloying processes as well as the microstructure are studied. Moreover, the SEBM-processed Raney-type copper catalysts show a high catalytic activity in methanol synthesis.