Catalyst Structure Research Division

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Create, Observe and Understand Active Surface Nanostructures for Precise Reaction Control

Professor Satoru TAKAKUSAGI Professor Kotaro TAKEYASU Assistant Professor Bang LU

Well-defined surface nanostructures are created by modifying single-crystal surfaces with various metals and functional molecules, and their catalytic properties are evaluated. The origins of them are elucidated by atomic-level structure determination of the nanostructures using advanced surface analysis techniques such as PTRF-XAFS and STM. A guide to design a high-performance catalyst can be obtained based on information about such precise structure-activity relationships.

Recently we have developed a novel operando XAFS technique which is called the operando PTRF-XAFS (Figure1). It can provide information on valence state (XANES) and 3-dimensional structure (EXAFS) of active metal species dispersed on a well-defined single-crystal surface during catalytic reactions. This technique will make a significant contribution to atomic-level understanding of heterogeneous catalysis and further development of active supported metal catalysts since an accurate 3D structure-activity relationship can be obtained.