MRI: Acquisition of an FEI Versa 3D dual-beam FIB/SEM for Catalysis and Materials Research

#1229645Subramaniam，Bala拟议的设备将提供独特的、最先进的电子显微镜基础设施，使研究人员能够直接探测纳米级材料的表面/界面属性和表面动力学。这些设施将使人们对开发用于催化和能源应用的新型功能材料有更深层次的基础了解。主要用户包括环境有益催化中心(CEBC)、堪萨斯太阳能研究中心(CSER)及其全国范围内的学术/行业合作者。此外，工程、地质和生物科学领域的许多其他研究人员也将受益于这些设施。CEBC的研究人员正在解决从传统和可再生原料可持续生产燃料和化学品所面临的主要挑战。设计具有活性、选择性和稳定性的催化剂是这方面的一个关键挑战。最近创新的例子包括多功能大孔有序介孔催化剂载体，通过有机和无机锚链连接到载体上的纳米级金属催化剂，显示出对各种化学转化的增强活性，以及用于生物质来源原料氢解的双金属催化剂。拟议的仪器将能够以纳米级的分辨率原位表征催化金属和表面反应物物种。

Abstract#1229645Subramaniam, BalaThe proposed equipment will provide a unique, state of-the-art electron microscopy infrastructure that would allow researchers to directly probe the surface/interfacial properties and surface dynamics of materials at nanometer length scales. These facilities will enable a deeper fundamental understanding essential to developing novel functional materials for catalysis and energy applications.The major users include those from the Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC), the Kansas Center for Solar Energy Research (CSER), and their nationwide academic/industry collaborators. Additionally, many other researchers in engineering, geology and biological sciences will benefit from these facilities. CEBC researchers are addressing the major challenges facing the sustainable manufacture of fuels and chemicals from traditional and renewable feedstocks. The design of active, selective and stable catalysts is a key challenge in this regard. Examples of recent innovations include versatile large-pore ordered mesoporous catalyst supports, nanometer size metal catalysts tethered to supports by organic and inorganic anchors that show enhanced activity for a variety of chemical transformations, and bimetallic catalysis for hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived feedstocks. The proposed instrumentation will enable in situ characterizations of the catalytic metal and surface reactant species at nanometer level resolution.