EXAFS systems

The assumption of harmonic vibrations and a Gaussian distribution of neighbors is not always valid. Anharmonic vibrations can lead to an incorrect determination of distance, with an apparent mean distance that is shorter than the real value. Measurements should preferably be carried out at low temperatures, and ideally at a range of temperatures, to check for anharmonicity. Model compounds should be measured at the same temperature as the unknown system. It is possible to obtain the real, non-Gaussian, distribution of neighbors from EXAFS, but a model for the distribution is needed and inevitably more parameters are introduced. 

Solid state NMR is a relatively recent spectroscopic technique that can be used to uniquely identify and quantitate crystalline phases in bulk materials and at surfaces and interfaces. While NMR resembles X-ray diffraction in this capacity, it has the additional advantage of being element-selective and inherently quantitative. Since the signal observed is a direct reflection of the local environment of the element under smdy, NMR can also provide structural insights on a molecularlevel. Thus, information about coordination numbers, local symmetry, and internuclear bond distances is readily available. This feature is particularly usefrd in the structural analysis of highly disordered, amorphous, and compositionally complex systems, where diffraction techniques and other spectroscopies (IR, Raman, EXAFS) often fail. 

The X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) methods (EXAFS and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES)) are suitable techniques for determination of the local structure of metal complexes. Of these methods, the former provides structural information relating to the radial distribution of atom pairs in systems studied the number of neighboring atoms (coordination number) around a central atom in the first, second, and sometimes third coordination spheres the... 

Time-resolved X-ray absorption is a very different class of experiments [5-7]. Chemical reactions are triggered by an ultrafast laser pulse, but the laser-induced change in geometry is observed by absorption rather than diffraction. This technique permits one to monitor local rather than global changes in the system. What one measures in practice is the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and the X-ray extended nearedge strucmre (XANES). 

The Cu/ZnO system is very dynamic. The morphology of the Cu particles responds immediately to a change in reduction potential of the gas mixture above it. EXAFS studies suggest that the change in morphology is associated vith the extent that the metal particles vet the underlying support [B.S. Clausen, J. Schiotz, L. Gr4-bffik, C.V. Ovesen, K.W. Jacobsen, J.K. Norskov and H. Topsoe, Top. Catal. 1 (1994)... 

Owing largely to research over the last twenty years, the sulfided C0-M0/AI2O3 system is one of the best-characterized industrial catalysts [H. Topsoe, B.S. Clausen and F.E. Massoth, Hydrotreating Catalysis (1996), Springer-Verlag, Berlin]. A combination of methods, such as Mbssbauer spectroscopy, EXAFS, XPS, and infrared spectroscopy, has led to a picture in which the active site of such a catalyst is known in almost atomic detail. 

In ecent years the utility of extended X-ray absorption fine structure UXAFS) as a probe for the study of catalysts has been clearly demonstrated (1-17). Measurements of EXAFS are particularly valuable for very highly dispersed catalysts. Supported metal systems, in which small metal clusters or crystallites are commonly dispersed on a refractory oxide such as alumina or silica, are good examples of such catalysts. The ratio of surface atoms to total atoms in the metal clusters is generally high and may even approach unity in some cases. 

The ruthenium-copper and osmium-copper systems represent extreme cases in view of the very limited miscibility of either ruthenium or osmium with copper. It may also be noted that the crystal structure of ruthenium or osmium is different from that of copper, the former metals possessing the hep structure and the latter the fee structure. A system which is less extreme in these respects is the rhodium-copper system, since the components both possess the face centered cubic structure and also exhibit at least some miscibility at conditions of interest in catalysis. Recent EXAFS results from our group on rhodium-copper clusters (14) are similar to the earlier results on ruthenium-copper ( ) and osmium-copper (12) clusters, in that the rhodium atoms are coordinated predominantly to other rhodium atoms while the copper atoms are coordinated extensively to both copper and rhodium atoms. Also, we conclude that the copper concentrates in the surface of rhodium-copper clusters, as in the case of the ruthenium-copper and osmium-copper clusters. 

Because of- the similarity in the backscattering properties of platinum and iridium, we were not able to distinguish between neighboring platinum and iridium atoms in the analysis of the EXAFS associated with either component of platinum-iridium alloys or clusters. In this respect, the situation is very different from that for systems like ruthenium-copper, osmium-copper, or rhodium-copper. Therefore, we concentrated on the determination of interatomic distances. To obtain accurate values of interatomic distances, it is necessary to have precise information on phase shifts. For the platinum-iridium system, there is no problem in this regard, since the phase shifts of platinum and iridium are not very different. Hence the uncertainty in the phase shift of a platinum-iridium atom pair is very small. 

Recently we reported EXAFS results on bimetallic clusters of iridium and rhodium, supported on silica and on alumina (15). The components of this system both possess the fee structure in Efie metallic state, as do the components of the platinum-iridium system. The nearest neighbor interatomic distances in metallic iridium and rhodium are not very different (2.714A vs. 2.690A). From the results of the EXAFS measurements, we concluded that the interatomic distances corresponding to the various atomic pairs (i.e., iridium-iridium, rhodium-rhodium, and iridium-rhodium) in the clusters supported on either silica or alumina were equal within experimental error. Since the Interatomic distances of the pure metals differ by only 0.024A, the conclusion is not surprising. 

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies have been very useful for obtaining structural information on bimetallic cluster catalysts. The application to bimetallic systems is a particularly good one for illustrating the various factors which have an influence on EXAFS. Moreover, the applicability of EXAFS to this area has been very timely, in view of the enormous interest in bimetallic systems in both catalytic science and technology. 

The results of the EXAFS studies on supported bimetallic catalysts have provided excellent confirmation of earlier conclusions (21-24) regarding the existence of bimetallic clusters in these catalysts. Moreover, major structural features of bimetallic clusters deduced from chemisorption and catalytic data (21-24), or anticipated from considerations of the miscibility or surface energies of the components (13-15), received additional support from the EXAFS data. From another point of view, it can also be said that the bimetallic catalyst systems provided a critical test of the EXAFS method for investigations of catalyst structure (17). The application of EXAFS in conjunction with studies employing ( mical probes and other types of physical probes was an important feature of the work (25). 

This means that the improvement of catalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles by involving the Pt core is completely attributed to the electronic effect of the core Pt upon shell Pd. Such clear conclusion can be obtained in this bimetallic system only because the Pt-core/Pd-shell structure can be precisely analyzed by EXAFS and Pd atoms are catalytically active while Pt atoms are inactive. 

Linear absorption measurements can therefore give the first indication of possible alloy formation. Nevertheless, in systems containing transition metals (Pd-Ag, Co-Ni,. ..) such a simple technique is no longer effective as interband transitions completely mask the SPR peak, resulting in a structurless absorption, which hinders any unambiguous identification of the alloy. In such cases, one has to rely on structural techniques like TEM (selected-area electron diffraction, SAED and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, EDS) or EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) to establish alloy formation. 

These results corroborated that alfalfa absorbed the Au(0) from the medium and translocated it through the vascular system. The EXAFS results (Figure 5, Table 3) showed that the Au atoms in plant samples had longer distances that the Au atoms in the tetrachloroaurate, but had equivalent distance to the Au atoms in the gold foil, which confirmed that the Au in plant samples was Au(0). 

The high activity of the Rh/y-Al203 system even at such a low Rh loading (0.1% w/w) can be rationalized on the basis that, as indicated by IR studies of adsorbed CO and EXAFS analysis, all the Rh atoms are zerovalent coordination by the NR3 molecules protects them from oxidation by the solid support [24,35]. 

These studies provide the first advanced EPR studies of a non-Kramers doublet spin system, and they suggest the possibility of investigating similar signals from other proteins in this family. EXAFS spectroscopy does not exhibit Fe- -Fe backscattering in Hred (38). This observation could reflect thermal motion, or it may suggest that, as a consequence of the reduction of Hox to Hred, the Fe-Fe distance has... 

XANES spectroscopy is also the basis of chemically sensitive X-ray imaging, as well as qualitative and quantitative microspectroscopy [306], ptXANES is attractive for chemical analysis, with its spatial resolution down to 10 ptm. Variations on the theme are surface EXAFS (SEXAFS), grazing incidence XAS and in situ time-resolved XAS investigations. Grazing angle XAFS can be used for the study of ultrathin multilayer systems. 

In order to simplify the discussion, the EXAFS studies on electrochemical systems reported to date will be divided into the categories listed below ... 

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