Challenges in the structural characterization of nanodispersed catalytic materials

Titelangaben

Roth, Christina ; Martz, Nathalie ; Fuess, Hartmut:
Challenges in the structural characterization of nanodispersed catalytic materials.
In: Journal of New Materials for Electrochemical Systems. Bd. 7 (2004) Heft 2 . - S. 117-123.
ISSN 1480-2422

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Abstract

Nanodispersed catalytic materials are frequently-applied in heterogeneous catalysis, e.g. in fuel cells and for automotive catalysts. However, several aspects of their outstanding performance are still not completely understood. Open questions deal with the particle-support interaction, the influence of particle size and particle size dispersion, the effect of alloy formation and oxidation in bimetallic particles, to name just a few. In this background, one main aim of current research is the systematic structural characterization of these materials and the correlation of structual features with catalytic properties. For this reason, novel techniques have to be developed to enable systematic characterization of nanoparticles not only ex-situ but also during operation. The present paper will concentrate on the investigation of various carbon-supported fuel cell electrocatalysts. Different Pt-Ru systems, Pt/Ni and Pt/Co complex catalysts and ternary Pt-Ru-WOx have been studied in detail using a combination of microscopy, spectroscopy and diffraction. The necessity of applying in-situ techniques is shown by an approach to monitor the catalyst structure during operation by X-ray absorption spectroscopy.