Sintering Mechanism of Pt/Al2O3 in Complex Emission Gases Elucidated via In Situ Environmental STEM

Jacob Smith, Gennaro Liccardo, Melissa C. Cendejas, Michael Stone, Shyama Mandal, Frank Abild-Pedersen, Matteo Cargnello, Miaofang Chi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Emission control catalysts are crucial for protecting human health by preventing the release of harmful gases and unburnt fuel into the atmosphere. These catalysts often face deactivation through sintering processes in high-temperature, chemically reactive environments containing multiple gas species. Here, we use in situ environmental scanning transmission electron microscopy to monitor the sintering behavior and transient morphologies of Pt/Al2O3 in various relevant gas environments through controlled experiments. Our results reveal the particle migration and atomic ripening behavior of Pt/Al2O3 at the atomic scale in the presence of water vapor and oxygen, which differs from behaviors observed in single gas environments. We identify an atomic ripening mechanism involving the dissociation and migration of Pt adatom chains from Pt nanoparticles, observed only in combinational gases. These findings provide valuable insights into catalyst degradation behavior in complex gas environments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3301-3311
Number of pages11
JournalACS Materials Letters
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Chemical Society.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sintering Mechanism of Pt/Al2O3 in Complex Emission Gases Elucidated via In Situ Environmental STEM'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this