X-ray spectroscopy for chemical and energy sciences: the case of heterogeneous catalysis

CATEGORY: CATALYSIS 
X-ray spectroscopy for chemical and energy sciences: the case of heterogeneous catalysis

Type	Journal Article
Author	Anatoly I. Frenkel
Author	Jeroen A. van Bokhoven
URL	http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?vv5081
Volume	21
Issue	5
Pages	1084-1089
Publication	Journal of Synchrotron Radiation
Abstract	Heterogeneous catalysis is the enabling technology for much of the current and future processes relevant for energy conversion and chemicals synthesis. The development of new materials and processes is aided by understanding the catalytic process at the molecular level on the macro/micro-kinetic time scale and on that of the actual bond breaking and bond making. Much development aims at unravelling the structure of the active site. However, these methods yield the ensemble-average structure. A benefit of X-ray-based methods is the large penetration depth of the X-rays, enabling in situ and operando measurements. Authors describe the potential of X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy methods (XANES, EXAFS, HERFD, RIXS and HEROS) to directly measure the structure of the catalytically active site at the single nanoparticle level using nanometer beams at diffraction-limited storage ring sources. The use of pump-probe schemes coupled with single-shot experiments will extend the time range from the micro/macro-kinetic time domain to the time scale of bond breaking and making.