The global raw material shortage and dire need for improved energy efficiency in industry have led to a resurgence of interest in the stabilization of supported catalyst systems both <i>in operando</i> and during high-temperature regeneration processes. Catalyst deactivation in supported systems generally proceeds by Ostwald ripening (OR) and particle coalescence/migration (PCM) mechanisms that depend strongly on the interaction between catalytically active surface particles and their support structure. We have employed a complimentary experimental and computational approach to study this interaction using gold nanoparticles supported on zeolite frameworks as a model system.  Systematic alteration of the aluminum dopant concentration in the zeolite framework allowed the potential energy landscape of the surface to be examined both experimentally (UV-Vis & TEM) and computationally (DFT and MD), and these analyses were used to determine the contributions of the surface binding energy profiles on OR and PCM. Recent findings will be presented in the context of potential exploitation of these interactions to suppress surface-supported catalyst deactivation pathways and thereby extend catalyst lifetimes.

Transforming the potential energy landscape to suppress deactivation pathways in surface supported catalysts

2019 Fall National Meeting

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