Topic:Watching ongoing reactions by single-particle catalysis
Time: 2021.10.25 15:30
Speaker: Günther Rupprechter
Tencent meeting: 792 440 073
Introduction of the speaker:
Günther Rupprechter received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Innsbruck (Austria). After being a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (with Gabor A. Somorjai), he became group leader for Laser Spectroscopy and Catalysis at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin (Germany) from 1999 to 2005 (with Hajo Freund). In 2005 he accepted a Full Professorship in Surface and Interface Chemistry at Technische Universität Wien (Austria).
His research emphasis is on heterogeneous catalysis, particularly in situ (operando) spectroscopy/microscopy on the model and technological catalysts.
In 2005 he received the Jochen Block Award of the German Catalysis Society for “the application of surface science methods to heterogeneous catalysis” and became a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2012. Since 2018 he is a “Renowned Overseas Professor” of Shanghai University of Engineering Science.
Abstract:
Operando spectroscopic characterization of working catalysts is a powerful tool to identify the relevant catalyst structure/composition and how molecules interact with interfaces. However, this approach typically averages over trillions of catalyst particles varying in size, exposed facets, composition, and metal/support interface. Accordingly, the local catalytic activity/selectivity may be quite different from the global (averaged) catalytic performance.
In contrast, operando surface microscopy provides direct access to the local catalytic structure and composition. In favorable cases, reactants and/or products can be imaged as well, monitoring processes like catalytic ignition, poisoning, CO tolerance, metal/support interactions, and oscillatory behavior. Such studies finally even identify so-called pacemakers, i.e., specific ensembles on the catalyst surface where catalytic transitions and reaction fronts initiate. Three examples are presented that may stimulate new ways of catalyst design.