Achievement

Heterogeneous catalysts play a major role in our economy by facilitating chemical transformations. Catalysis is a surface phenomenon. All heterogeneous catalysts tend to lose their performance over time due to coarsening of the nanostructures. These phenomena generally occur over high temperatures in the presence of a gas atmosphere, hence they are difficult to study by methods such as transmission electron microscopy, that provide the necessary atomic resolution. IGERT fellow Andrew De La Riva recently completed his study of in-situ observations of the dynamics of catalyst sintering during his research internship at Haldor Topsoe in Denmark. Andrew learned that the early stages of sintering are dominated by interparticle transport of atoms and it is only in the later stages that particle migration and coalescence become significant. These observations will help considerably in designing novel catalysts for improved sinter resistance.