Lecture
Van Marum Colloquium: On the nature of the active site in heterogeneous catalysis – under reaction conditions
- Date
- Wednesday 1 April 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- BM.1.33
Abstract
High-pressure Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) experiments have shown that adsorption of reactants on catalytic metal surfaces can lead to dramatic changes of the surface structure, including metal-metal bond breaking leading to ejection of metal atoms and formation of metal nanoclusters. In this talk, we will attempt to address the formation and stability of these nanoclusters over a wide range of transition metals as a function of the reaction environment, including temperature, pressure and reactant-feed composition. We will provide examples demonstrating that metal nanoclusters formed under reaction conditions can dominate catalytic performance. The effect of (i) surface structure, (ii) adsorbate coverage, (iii) alloying, and (iv) nanoparticle size on the energetics of metal nanocluster formation will be discussed. We further show that the energetics of metal atom ejection maps well onto Ostwald ripening and catalyst sintering phenomena, thereby elucidating a simple approximate descriptor for catalyst stability, a key factor in industrial catalysis practice. These insights can help develop new, improved heterogeneous catalysts.