We use mass-selected cluster deposition to prepare nanocatalysts composed of atomically precise metal oxide clusters supported on metal surfaces for investigations of interfacial electronic structure, surface morphology and reactivity. Such “inverse” model catalysts are especially useful for probing metal-metal oxide interfaces, while simultaneously providing a conducting metal support that allows the use of STM and other charged particle characterization tools (e.g., XPS). A key advantage of mass-selected cluster deposition is the ability to control cluster stoichiometry, i.e., metal-to-oxygen ratio, which provides a convenient way of introducing oxygen “vacancies” and varying the average metal oxidation states in the clusters. Recent work has focused on investigations of surface morphology and reactivity of MoxOy (M=Ti, Nb, Zr) clusters deposited onto Cu(111), Cu2O/Cu(111) and Au(111) surfaces using STM and ambient pressure XPS. We find that the surface morphology strongly depends on cluster stoichiometry and support surface, with clusters on Au(111) often exhibiting dendritic, fractal-like assemblies involving tens of clusters. Reactivity studies on (TiO2)n/Cu(111) and ZrOx/Cu2O/Cu(111) surfaces for the WGS and CO2 hydrogenation, respectively, demonstrate that very small oxide clusters on metals can act as bi-functional catalysts for which the oxide-metal interface plays a key role for generating reaction intermediates.

Structure and reactivity of cluster-based nanocatalysts

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.