X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Studies of Model Catalysts

Supported metal catalysts enable the production of essentially all forms of liquid hydrocarbon fuels as well as facilitate a multitude of other industrial processes. Catalytic behavior is influenced by a plethora of competing factors of which the most important is catalyst structure. The catalyst size, on which structure is strongly reliant, complicates its study by pushing the limitations of qualitative and quantitative analyses. In general, it can be said that 30 nm marks a transition into improved catalytic ability and, in some cases, the onset of dramatically distinct behaviors in small clusters [1]. It therefore remains a significant goal in science to fundamentally understand and predict the local structure and stability of catalytic materials at this scale so that tailor-made catalysts with distinct technological applications can be created. Dramatic progress toward this idea of “rational catalyst design” through the combined use of simulation and experimentation is already being realized by several groups [2–5].