Development of a Centre of Excellence for the study of pure metal clusters.

超细金属颗粒，特别是过渡金属颗粒，处于一些最具工业和环境重要性的催化过程的核心。它们是汽车净化废气、减少烟雾的催化转化器的关键部件，也是制备散装化学品所涉及的重要催化过程中的关键部件。金属纳米颗粒也在纳米技术革命中发挥着核心作用。例如，微小的铁颗粒被用来催化碳纳米管的生长，其性质在未来材料的发展中具有很大的前景。然而，尽管纳米粒子和小金属团簇具有重要的实用价值，但它们的结构和反应活性仍然不太清楚。特别是，人们对团簇内原子的几何排列和团簇本身的反应性之间的关系知之甚少。科学家们需要新的方法和实验技术来研究这些物种，以实现它们的全部潜力。根据这一提议，华威大学将在已经进行的簇研究工作的基础上，建立一个卓越的金属簇研究中心。将开发新的工具和技术，试图了解这些重要系统的基本特性和开展研究的新途径。到项目结束时，我们将更清楚地了解金属团簇的结构以及它们与团簇反应性的关系，这将使我们能够最大限度地利用它们。

Ultra-small metal particles, especially those of transition metals, lie at the very heart of some of the most industrially and environmentally important catalysis processes. They are the key components in the catalytic converters of cars to clean up exhaust gases reducing smog and in important catlytic processes involved in the preparation of bulk chemicals. Metal nanoparticles are also playing a central role in the nanotechnology revolution. For example small iron particles are used to catalyse the growth of carbon nanotubes the properties of which hold great promise in the development of future materials. Despite their practical importance, however, the structures and reactivity of nanoparticles and small metal clusters remain ill-understood. In particular, little is known about the relationship between the geometrical arrangement of the atoms within a cluster and the reactivity of the cluster itself. Scientists require new methods and experimental techniques to investigate these species in order to realise their full potential.Under this proposal, a centre of excellence for the study of metal clusters would be created at the University of Warwick building upon and expanding the cluster work already in progress there. New instruments and techniques will be developed in an attempt to understand the basic properties of these important systems and new avenues of research initiated. By the end of the project a clearer picture of the structures of metal clusters and how they relate to cluster reactivity will have been revealed which will allow us to make maximum use of them.