Morphology of Metal Particles

Structural characterisation of catalysts by EXAFS can be largely divided into these two problems outlined above viz either the identification of the ligand donor set at a metal centre or the study of the morphology of metal particles, and the effects of their interactions with adsorbates different classes of catalysts will provide one or both of these situations. 

How does a support affect the morphology of a particle on top of it Which surface planes does the metal single crystal expose The thermodynamically most stable configuration of such small crystallites is determined by the free energy of the surface facets and the interface with the support, and can be derived by the so-called Wulff construction, which we demonstrate for a cross section through a particle-support assembly in two dimensions (Fig. 5.13). 

To control the formation of nanoparticles with desired size, composition, structure, dispersion, and stability, a multifunction nanoagent is used. The active metals (Pd and Pt) react with the functional groups of the nanoagent, i.e., a pol5mier template. The polymer template determines the size, monodisperity, composition, and morphology of the particles (which is somewhat reminiscent of the reversed micelles technique mentioned above). 

Size reduction of metal particles results in several changes of the physico-chemical properties. The primary change is observed in the electronic properties of the metal particles which can be characterized by ultraviolet and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS and XPS, respectively) as well as Auger-electron spectroscopy (AES) measurements. Furthermore, morphology of the metal nanoparticles is highly sensitive to the environment, such as ion-metal interaction (e.g. metal-support interaction)... 

Photoinduced deposition of various noble metals onto semiconductor particles has been extensively reported [310-315]. Several factors are controlling this reaction. To control the morphology of metal clusters with desired size and distribution pattern on a given surface area of titania, the most relevant factors are the surfactant, pH, local concentration of cations, and the source of cation [316], In the case of the Ag clusters, the reaction steps proposed include the creation of electron (e )-hole (p+) pairs, the reaction of holes with OH surface species, and the reaction of electrons with adsorbed Ag+ ions ... 

The size and morphology are characteristic parameters of metal particles. It is possible to determine them by various techniques transmission electron microscopy (TEM) [105-107], X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) [108], X-ray diffraction (XRD), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAES) [109, 110], thermoprogrammed oxidation, reduction or desorption (TPO, TPR or TPO) and chemisorption of probe molecules (H2, O2, CO, NO) are currently used. It is therefore possible to know the particles (i) size (by TEM) [105-107], extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAES) [109, 110]), (ii) structure (by XRD, TEM), (iii) chemical composition (by TEM-EDAX, elemental analysis), (iv) chemical state (surface and bulk metal atoms by XPS [108], TPD, TPR, TPO) and... 

In heterogeneous catalysis by metal, the activity and product-selectivity depend on the nature of metal particles (e.g., their size and morphology). Besides monometallic catalysts, the nanoscale preparation of bimetallic materials with controlled composition is attractive and crucial in industrial applications, since such materials show advanced performance in catalytic processes. Many reports suggest that the variation in the catalyst preparation method can yield highly dispersed metal/ alloy clusters and particles by the surface-mediated reactions [7-11]. The problem associated with conventional catalyst preparation is of reproducibility in the preparative process and activity of the catalyst materials. Moreover, the catalytic performances also depend on the chemical and spatial nature of the support due to the metal-support interaction and geometrical constraint at the interface of support and metal particles [7-9]. 

In this report, the advantages of applying transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in this field are demonstrated. For example, it allows us to observe directly the mesopore systems, to detect the local structures such as surface structures, local defects and the morphologies of the particles, to image directly ordered and partially ordered metal nanoparticles loaded inside the mesopores and to identify possible new phases in a multiphasic specimen. 

The performance of a catalyst is well known to be sensitive to its preparation procedure. For this reason, ideally an oxide-supported metal catalyst should be subjected to a number of characterization procedures. These may include measurements of the metal loading within the overall catalyst (usually expressed in wt%), the degree of metal dispersion (the proportion of metal atoms in the particle surfaces), the mean value and the distribution of metal particle diameters, and qualitative assessments of morphology including the particle shapes and evidence for crystallinity. These properties in turn can depend on experimental variables used in the preparation, such as the choice and amounts of originating metal salts, prereduction, calcination or oxygen treatments, and the temperature and duration of hydrogen reduction procedures. 

The use of colloidal metallic nanoclusters deposited onto solid substrates can provide a higher degree of control over the SPs spectral properties state-of-the-art results in the chemical synthesis showed, in fact, the possibility to grow nano-objects with high uniformity and low size dispersion [36-38], This can allow to fabricate extended substrates, in which the local morphology, and thus the resulting MEF effect, can be controlled with good precision [19, 39], As a counterpart, still some randomness is unavoidable in this approach, since it is not simple to define the position of the nanoclusters on the substrate with micrometer precision to realize, for instance, ordered arrays of metallic particles. 

In preparing fine particles of inorganic metal oxides, the hydrothermal method consists of three types of processes hydrothermal synthesis, hydrothermal oxidation, and hydrothermal crystallization. Hydrothermal synthesis is used to synthesize mixed oxides from their component oxides or hydroxides. The particles obtained are small, uniform crystallites of 0.3-200 jim in size and dispersed each other. Pressures, temperatures, and mineralizer concentrations control the size and morphology of the particles. In the hydrothermal oxidation method, fme oxide particles can be prepared from metals, alloys, and intermciallic compounds by oxidation with high temperature and pressure solvent, that is, the starting metals are changed into fine oxide powders directly. For example, the solvothermal oxidation of cerium metal in 2-mcthoxycthanol at 473-523 K yields ultrafine ceria particles (ca 2 nm). 

The exact size distribution/nnmber density of the Pd particles formed is not very reproducible as the spatial arrangement of the particles is dictated by nncleation and growth during deposition. Snbseqnent heating leads to ripening of the ensemble [21] with concomitant changes in the total exposed metal surface area and the morphology of the particles. These factors can mask the formation of the SMSI state. However, STM facilitates local inspection on a particle-by-particle basis and the reproducible identification of common structnral motifs. 

One of the key issues of supported model catalysts is to prepare collection of metal particles having a well-defined morphology. Indeed, if a catalytic reaction is structure-sensitive [54], it will depend on the nature of the facets present on the particles. Moreover, the presence of edges, the proportion of which is increasing rapidly below about 5 nm, can affect the reactivity by their intrinsic low coordination and also by their role as boundary between the different facets. In this section I first discuss the theoretical predictions of the shape of small particles and clusters, then I briefly describe the available experimental techniques to study the morphology, and finally I discuss from selected examples how it is possible to understand and control the morphology of supported model catalysts. 

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