Nanostructured phases nanoclusters

A complex nanostructured catalyst for ammonia synthesis consists of ruthenium nanoclusters dispersed on a boron nitride support (Ru/BN) with barium added as a promoter (33). It was observed that the introduction of barium promoters results in an increase of the catalytic activity by 2—3 orders of magnitude. The multi-phase catalyst was first investigated by means of conventional HRTEM, but this technique did not succeed in identifying a barium-rich phase (34). It was even difficult to determine how the catalyst could be active, because the ruthenium clusters were encapsulated by layers of the boron nitride support. By HRTEM imaging of the catalyst during exposure to ammonia synthesis conditions, it was found that the... 

For free-clusters, the cluster size distribution can be measured by the time-of-flight mass spectrometer for cluster films deposited on substrate by the cluster beam, the measurement of size distribution and observation of nanostructure are mostly done using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this section we will focus on the latter and pay special attention to FePt, CoPt clusters which have high anisotropy Tl0 phase after annealing [43-45]. For the TEM observations, FePt, CoPt nanoclusters, produced in a gas-aggregation chamber, in which high pressure Ar gas ( 0.5-lTorr) was applied and cooled by LN2, were directly deposited onto carbon-coated films supported by Cu grids. 

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