(599f) James Lee Memorial Award - a Fundamental Understanding of the Relationship between Molecular/Electronic Structure and Catalytic Performance (Sponsored by Hanwha Total)

Supported metal or metal oxide catalysts have been applied in diverse fields such as petrochemical industries, toxic gas remediation, pharmaceutical, the food industry, and more. It has been well documented that catalytic performance is controlled by the catalyst’s composition, size, shape, and other factors. Along with the discovery of new catalyst synthesis methods, advanced catalyst characterization techniques have been extensively applied in catalysis. Understanding a molecular and electronic structure of fresh, used, deactivated, and reactive catalysts is crucial for the rational modification of currently used catalysts and the design of novel ones. A wide range of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques have been used to monitor the electronic structure, molecular structures, and interactions between surface species and support of heterogeneous catalysts. In addition to various characterization techniques, different characterization methodologies such as ex-situ, in-situ, and operando have been applied. These methodologies help elucidate the nature of active sites, provide the structure-activity-selectivity-stability relationship under working conditions (e.g., high temperature and pressure), and suggest possible reaction mechanisms based on the identification of intermediates. In this talk, I will provide an overview of catalyst structure-activity performance relationship, with a focus on ceria supported MOx (M = transition metal) catalysts. I will also present our recent results on a new catalyst synthesis method, one-pot chemical vapor deposition (OP-CVD) method, and its application in catalytic reaction such as reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) and CO oxidation. In the final section, I will highlight the importance of ex-situ and in-situ characterization methods for studying catalyst structures and revealing the molecular structure changes under the high and low temperatures.