Achievement

Bimetallic catalysts have been shown to exhibit properties different than those of their corresponding monometallic catalysts for the production of hydrogen. Experimental studies and theoretical calculations have been performed to better understand their reaction kinetics and activity. Beth Cheney’s research, under the advisement of Dr. Jingguang Chen and Dr. Jochen Lauterbach, is to investigate the effect of micelle synthesis of a platinum/nickel bimetallic catalyst on activity (determined via carbon monoxide chemisorption), reaction kinetics and selectivity (determined via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), and metal particle size (determined via transmission electron microscopy). In addition to analyzing the performance of the Pt/Ni bimetallic catalyst produced via micelle synthesis, she will compare with a Pt/Ni catalyst synthesized using an incipient wetness impregnation sequence.