Atomic Imaging of Nanoparticle Catalysts during Operation

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Project descriptionThis project is a collaboration between the Nanomaterials Lab at Swansea University, which covers physics, chemistry and engineering on the nanometre-scale, and the Johnson Matthey Technology Centre through their aberration-corrected electron microscopy facility located at the DIAMOND Light Source at Harwell near Oxford. The new transmission electron microscope (TEM) enables atomic-resolution imaging of individual nanoparticle catalysts during the process of a chemical reaction inside a cell located in the heart of the microscope. The correlation between atomic structure and the chemical selectivity of the catalyst is central to the discovery of new, environmentally-friendly nanostructured catalysts for the green economy. The world-leading expertise of the Swansea group in the generation of size-selected and composition-controlled nanoparticles by cluster beam methods will be exploited to produce the new model catalysts, and coupled to JM's experience in catalytic chemistry, advanced imaging and industrial exploitation. This is an exciting and demanding project for a top student, with great prospects for research impact and career development.Project supervisors: Prof Richard E Palmer (Swansea), Dr Manfred Schuster (Johnson Matthey)