Structural selectivity of supported Pd nanoparticles for catalytic NH3 oxidation resolved using combined operando spectroscopy

Ellie K. Dann et al.

Two groups from UK headed by Professors Peter Wells and Alexandre Goguet have demonstrated in a recent article the ability of combined operando spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to characterize a previously unidentified PdNxspecies, and clarify the selectivity-directing structure of supported Pd catalysts for the selective catalytic oxidation of NH3 to N2. Nitrogen insertion into the metallic Pd nanoparticle structure at low temperatures (<200 °C) was found to be responsible for high N2 selectivity, whereas the unfavourable formation of NO is linked to adsorbed nitrates, which form at the surface of bulk PdO nanoparticles at high temperatures (>280 °C).

Full text can be found in https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-018-0213-3

Nature Catalysis vol. 2, pages157–163 (2019)

Reproduced with permission from Springer Nature

Ellie K. Dann et al.