Atomic-scale investigations of the struct. and dynamics of complex catalytic materials
By some accounts, catalysis impacts ≥ 30% of GDP in developed countries [Maxwell, I. E. Nature 394, 325-326 (1998)]. Catalysis is the enabling technology for petroleum production, for control of gaseous emissions from petroleum combustion, and for the production of industrial and consumer chemicals. Future applications of catalysis are potentially even more far reaching. There is an ever-growing need to move the economy from a fossil-fuel energy base to cleaner alternatives. Hydrogen-based combustion systems and fuel cells could play a dominant role, given a plentiful and inexpensive source of hydrogen. Photocatalysis is the most promising clean technology for hydrogen production, relying solely on water and sunlight, but performance enhancements in photocatalysis are needed to make this technology economically competitive. Given the enormously wide spread utilization of catalysts, even incremental performance enhancements would have far-reaching benefits for multiple end-use sectors. In the area of fuel and chemical production, such improvements would translate into vast reductions in energy consumption. At the consumption end, improvements in the catalysts involved would yield tremendous reductions in pollution. In the area of photocatalysis, such efficiency improvements could finally render hydrogen an economically viable fuel. Prerequisite to the non-empirical design and refinement of improved catalysts is the identification of the atomic-scale structure and properties of the catalytically active sites. This has become a major industrial research priority. The focus of this research program was to combine atomic-resolution Z-contrast electron microscopy with first-principles density functional theory calculations to deliver an atomic-scale description of heterogeneous catalytic systems that could form the basis for non-empirical design of improved catalysts with greater energy efficiency.
- Research Organization:
- Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC36-01CH11085
- OSTI ID:
- 903413
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/CH/GO/11085/FTR; TRN: US200722%%369
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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