Case Studies in Catalyst Characterization

Supported Rhodium Catalysts Alkali Promoters on Metal Surfaces Cobalt-Molybdenum Sulfide Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts Chromium Oxide Polymerization Catalysts 

In this chapter we present four case studies to illustrate catalyst characterization from a problem-oriented approach. The intention is to show what can be achieved by using combinations of techniques. The selected studies all have the aim of determining the composition and the structure of a catalyst or a catalytic surface in atomic detail. 

We begin with the structure of a noble metal catalyst. The emphasis is on the preparation of rhodium on aluminum oxide and the nature of the metal-support interaction. Next we focus on a promoted surface in a review of potassium on noble metals. This section illustrates how single crystal techniques have been applied to investigate to what extent promoters perturb the surface of a catalyst. The third study deals with the sulfidic cobalt-molybdenum catalysts used in hydrotreating reactions. Here we are concerned with the composition and structure of the catalytically active 

The structure of supported rhodium catalysts has been the subject of intensive research during the last decade. Rhodium is the component of the automotive exhaust catalyst (the three-way catalyst) responsible for the reduction of NO by CO [1], In addition, it exhibits a number of fundamentally interesting phenomena, such as strong metal-support interaction after high temperature treatment in hydrogen [21, and particle disintegration under carbon monoxide [3]. In this section we illustrate how techniques such as XPS, STMS, EXAFS, TEM and infrared spectroscopy have led to a fairly detailed understanding of supported rhodium catalysts. 

Preparation of Alumina-Supported Rhodium Model Catalysts 

---