| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R51506/01 |
| Title: |
Molecular-scale reactivity at bimetallic surfaces: catlytic partial oxidation of methane on Au-Pt(110) |
| Principal Investigator: |
King, Professor Sir D |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Chemistry |
| Organisation: |
University of Cambridge |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2001 |
Ends: |
30 September 2004 |
Value (£): |
287,882
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Catalysis & Applied Catalysis |
Surfaces & Interfaces |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Chemicals |
Energy |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Methane is an abundant, clean energy source. The drawback, that it is hazarddous to transport, can be overcome by conversion to methanol, but the intermediate step of catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) to synthesis gas is itself hazardous. Bimetallic catalysts potentially odder a safer, low-temperature route for CPO, but are poorly understood at present. We propose to use scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) to study the CPO of methane over a AU-Pt(110) bimetallic surface. Use of a 4 K STM and pulsed laser heating will allow the reaction to be followed with unprecedented resolution, both spatial and tgemporal: the pulsed laser heating allows processes frozen at 4 k to be activeted over a 5 ns window, allowing STM 'movies' of surface dynamics at up to 200 MHz frame rates. A methyl radical source will be constructed and used to allow adsorption of CH3 and CHX fragments; these and adsorbed oxgen will be characterised seperately before processing to co-adsorption and reaction studies. Facilities for STM inelastic tunnelling will be added to our STM to allow direct spectroscopic characterisation of individual molecular species observed in agiven STM image. Ab inito modelling of STM image contrast will also be used to inform the interpretation of our STM images. A particular goal will be understand the role of the bimetallic aspect of the structure in terms of active sites for adsorption and reaction. This work will represent a major step forward in the direct characterisation of a complex surface that is directly relevant to a real catalytic process, and will provide crucial experimental support to underpin new developments in predictive modelling of complex catalytic systems.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.cam.ac.uk |