Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts

Fontana, Martino; Pipitone, Giuseppe; Braidy, Nadi; Longhi, Mariangela; Pirola, Carlo; Bossola, Filippo; Tornelli, Ilaria; Galli, Federico

doi:10.3390/catal16070604

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Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts

by

Martino Fontana

^1,*,

Giuseppe Pipitone

^2,*

,

Nadi Braidy

¹

,

Mariangela Longhi

³

,

Carlo Pirola

³

,

Filippo Bossola

⁴

,

Ilaria Tornelli

³ and

Federico Galli

^1,*

¹

Département de Génie Chimique et de Génie Biotechnologique, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada

²

Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy

³

Dipartimento di Chimica, Universitá degli Studi di Milano, via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy

⁴

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta”, Via C. Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Catalysts 2026, 16(7), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16070604

Submission received: 21 April 2026 / Revised: 25 May 2026 / Accepted: 26 June 2026 / Published: 30 June 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Catalysis for a Sustainable Future, 2nd Edition)

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Abstract

The development of highly crystalline tungsten oxide nanomaterials remains challenging for catalytic applications due to the difficulty in achieving high phase purity without sacrificing metal oxide loading. This work addresses this limitation through an innovative fast hydrothermal synthesis at 100

^{\circ} C

for 4

h

without autoclaves or surfactants, using citric acid as a critical structural directing agent. Such methodology reduces the synthesis time by 50–80% compared to existing hydrothermal routes. Citric acid was identified as the critical parameter controlling the nanosheet thickness (20

n

m

–35

n

m

) and diameter (109

n

m

–173

n

m

), acting as a coordinating ligand. The resulting nanosheets were used to prepare Pt/WO3/Al2O3 catalysts with well-defined crystalline monoclinic WO3 structures at 9.5% wt. loading. Normally, this phase is inaccessible by standard impregnation at equivalent loading. NH3-TPD characterization confirmed that crystalline WO3 generates strong acid sites absent in the reference wet impregnation catalyst. Glycerol hydrogenolysis tests revealed that the presence of monoclinic WO3 reduces the average glycerol conversion rate by a factor of 3.8 and systematically shifts selectivity toward over-hydrogenolysis products (1-propanol and 2-propanol), despite identical WO3 loading and surface densities below the literature optimum of

2.2 W a t o m s n m^{- 2}

. These results demonstrate that the WO3 crystalline phase is a primary determinant of catalytic performance, without taking into account increased loading. Such demonstration will be useful for the rational design of selective glycerol hydrogenolysis catalysts.

Keywords: tungsten oxide; WO3; nanosheets; hydrothermal synthesis; citric acid; exfoliation; EELS; XRD; Pt/WO3/Al2O3; glycerol hydrogenolysis

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MDPI and ACS Style

Fontana, M.; Pipitone, G.; Braidy, N.; Longhi, M.; Pirola, C.; Bossola, F.; Tornelli, I.; Galli, F. Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts. Catalysts 2026, 16, 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16070604

AMA Style

Fontana M, Pipitone G, Braidy N, Longhi M, Pirola C, Bossola F, Tornelli I, Galli F. Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts. Catalysts. 2026; 16(7):604. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16070604

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fontana, Martino, Giuseppe Pipitone, Nadi Braidy, Mariangela Longhi, Carlo Pirola, Filippo Bossola, Ilaria Tornelli, and Federico Galli. 2026. "Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts" Catalysts 16, no. 7: 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16070604

APA Style

Fontana, M., Pipitone, G., Braidy, N., Longhi, M., Pirola, C., Bossola, F., Tornelli, I., & Galli, F. (2026). Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts. Catalysts, 16(7), 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal16070604

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Pre-Synthesized WO3 Nanosheets via New Modified Thermal Exfoliation as a Route to Decouple Crystallinity from Loading in Pt/WO3/Al2O3 Glycerol Hydrogenolysis Catalysts

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