Project: Structure, Dynamics, and Catalysis with Dilute Bimetallic and Single Atom Alloy Nanoparticles
Project Description: An emerging class of bimetallic catalysts are Single Atom Alloy (SAA) catalysts in which a reactive metal (e.g., Pd, Pt) exists as isolated single atoms in a matrix of unreactive metal (e.g., Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, etc.). These are known to significantly modify the chemical, geometric and electronic properties of the active metal and provide opportunities to escape linear free energy scaling relationships. These catalysts, however, are currently limited by large particle sizes and low active metal loadings, which limits the densities of active sites, and therefore rates. This project aims to synthesize small SAA nanoparticles to active metal density and utilization, using the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2 + O2 → H2O2) as a probe reaction. By performing rate measurements, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, isotope exchange experiments and a variety of other material characterization techniques, we aim to establish an understanding of the properties of single atom alloy catalysts.