A method for preparing a catalyst, including: 1) uniformly mixing attapulgite, lithium-manganese spinel (LiMn spinel), manganese dioxide powders to form mixed raw material; adding water to the mixed raw material; stirring and mixing the mixed raw material and the water for between 5 and 15 min to yield a reaction mixture; 2) feeding the reaction mixture in 1) to a pelletizer to prepare spherical particles or hollow cylindrical particles; drying the spherical particles or the hollow cylindrical particles to yield a precursor; 3) heating the precursor in a muffle furnace, and calcining the precursor to yield a crude catalyst; 4) mixing the crude catalyst with an acid solution; alternating between ultrasound and microwave to wash the crude catalyst; and 5) washing the crude catalyst in 4) with water; and drying the catalyst for 12 hrs in air at 105 C.

A catalyst for catalyzing transesterification of esters or esterification of fatty acids, the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of manganese (II) glycerolate, cobalt (II) glycerolate, iron (II) glycerolate, and any combination thereof. A method for transesterification reaction, includes: a) providing a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of manganese (II) glycerolate, cobalt (II) glycerolate, iron (II) glycerolate, and any combination thereof; b) adding the catalyst, one or more alcohols, and a composition comprising one or more esters to a reactor to form a reaction mixture; and c) stirring while heating the reaction mixture for reaction to form transesterification products.

A catalyst-containing ceramic dust filter for off-gas or exhaust gas cleaning is prepared by a method comprising the steps of making a water-based impregnation slurry, which comprises a catalytically effective amount of at least one catalytically active metal and an oxide support, to form a catalytically active metal oxide support, impregnating the filter substrate with the impregnation slurry, spraying from the inside to control the amount of liquor while leaving the outer few millimeters of the filter wall dry, and drying the impregnated filter. The impregnated filter is preferably dried by using microwave energy.

A composition derived from the acid treatment of ashes obtained after heat treatment of selected plants or plant material is provided. The selected plants accumulate metal from the platinum group (platinoids). The compositions can be used to produce catalysts for performing various organic synthesis reactions.

A nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction catalyst that includes a transition metal tungstate having the formula: MWO.sub.4 wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu. The catalyst may be utilized in various environments including oxygen rich and oxygen deficient environments.

A cluster-supporting catalyst including porous carrier particles having acid sites, and catalyst metal clusters supported within the pores of the porous carrier particles. The catalyst metal clusters are obtained by supporting catalyst metal clusters having a positive charge, which is formed in a dispersion liquid containing a dispersion medium and the porous carrier particles dispersed in the dispersion medium, on the acid sites within the pores of the porous carrier particles through an electrostatic interaction.

The method of making palladium nanoparticles is a microwave thermolysis-based method of making palladium nanoparticles from a complex of palladium(II) acetate Pd(O.sub.2CCH.sub.3).sub.2 (or Pd(OAc).sub.2) and a ligand. The complex of palladium(II) acetate and the ligand is melted in oleic acid and dichloromethane to form a solution. The ligand is 1-(pyridin-2-yldiazenyl)naphthalen-2-ol (C.sub.15H.sub.11N.sub.3O), which has the structure: ##STR00001## The solution is stirred for two hours under an inert argon atmosphere, and then irradiated with microwave radiation to produce palladium nanoparticles.

The present development is a metal particle coated nanowire catalyst for use in the hydrodesulfurization of fuels and a process for the production of the catalyst. The catalyst comprises titanium(IV) oxide nanowires wherein the nanowires are produced by exposure of a TiO.sub.2KOH paste to microwave radiation. Metal particles selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, or a combination thereof, are impregnated on the metal oxide nanowire surface. The metal impregnated nanowires are sulfided to produce catalytically-active metal particles on the surface of the nanowires The catalysts of the present invention are intended for use in the removal of thiophenic sulfur from liquid fuels through a hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process in a fixed bed reactor. The presence of nanowires improves the HDS activity and reduces the sintering effect, therefore, the sulfur removal efficiency increases.

The present invention relates to a catalyst for the conversion of ethanol to 1,3-butadiene comprising a support, characterized in that silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) are present on the support in metal form, to a process for producing such a catalyst, to the use of such a catalyst for the conversion of ethanol to 1,3-butadiene, and to a process for the catalytic conversion of ethanol to 1,3-butadiene using such a catalyst.

The present invention belongs to the flue gas desulfuration field. Specifically, the present invention relates to a supported solid-phase catalyst for oxidizing the by-product magnesium sulfite in a magnesium desulfuration process, and to preparation method and use thereof. The catalyst uses an activated carbon particle as a support, and cobalt nitrate, manganese nitrate, copper nitrate and ferrous nitrate as catalytically active components. The preparation method is as follows: mixing the pre-treated activated carbon support with the catalytically active components, followed by oscillating, standing under microwave irradiation, filtrating, drying, baking, so as to obtain the supported solid-phase catalyst. Raw materials of the present invention are inexpensive and easily available; the preparation process is simple; the catalyst has prominent catalytic effect and can be widely used in the magnesium desulfuration process in medium-sized and small-sized boilers of 75t or more to improve the recovery rate of the desulfuration by-product and reduce energy consumption of the oxidation system; the catalyst has a low amount of catalytically active components and causes low residue in the solution and hence no secondary pollution problem, and has a high generalization value.