Fritz Haber Institute - Real-time imaging of catalyst activity

Experiment: Ni exposed to 500 mBar He:H2:O2 at 730 °C. In this in situ TEM video using the Climate system, a heterogeneous catalyst, Ni oxide, was first reduced before a gas flow of helium, hydrogen and oxygen was introduced to the Nano-Reactor at 730 °C. This video clearly shows certain regions of active particles and others that are inactive. This highlights which catalyst particles really contribute to the reaction, thus, enabling a way to investigate, understand and improve the activity on the single particle level. Interestingly, seen in the top right of this video, one particle shows very unusual shape dynamics for a metal catalyst and provides insight into catalytic reaction mechanics and performance.
Experiment data from Dr. Marc Willinger & Dr. Ramzi Farra, Fritz-Haber-Institute fur der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany.