Environmental TEM Study of the Dispersion of Au/α-MoC: From Nanoparticles to Two-Dimensional Clusters.

He, Bowen; Tao, Xin; Li, Lina; Liu, Xi; Chen, Liwei · Nano Lett · 2023

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The synthesis of highly dispersed Au nanoclusters that are stable under elevated temperatures in heterogeneous catalysis is challenging. Here, we directly observe a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI)-induced dispersion of Au nanoparticles (NPs) on α-MoC using an environmentally atomically resolved secondary imaging technique. Under a realistic environment, Au NPs flatten and spread out on the α-MoC to form two-dimensional atomic layered clusters. The formed highly dispersed Au/α-MoC catalyst shows excellent stability at 600 °C for 160 h in the reverse water-gas shift reaction. The X-ray photoelectron spectrum and extended X-ray absorption fine structure results show that Au NPs gradually become low-coordination-number cluster species and lose electrons to become Au<sup>δ+</sup>; these form chemical bonds with the α-MoC support and are responsible for the dispersion behavior. This work provides an insightful understanding of dispersion behavior and promotes the rational design and synthesis of reverse sintering catalysts.