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On the importance of the structure and composition in the catalytic reactivity of Au-Ag catalysts

par Jacobs, Luc
Président du jury Reniers, François
Promoteur Visart de Bocarmé, Thierry
Publication Non publié, 2021-06-24

Thèse de doctorat

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Résumé :

Au-based catalysts present excellent low temperature activity and selectivity for partial oxidation reactions, but the fundamental issue of atomic oxygen availability, the key parameter to obtain such reactivity, remains present. To enable the O2 dissociation reaction, Au nanoparticles must be smaller than 5 nm, which induces structural issues for upscaled applications. Alloying Au creates synergistic catalytic effects, and this option is investigated here: using residual amounts of Ag enables the O2 dissociation, regardless of the size of the Au-Ag catalyst. Questions remain about the precise interplays between the surface structure, the composition and the observed reactivity and selectivity. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the phenomena occurring during oxidation catalysis on Au-Ag surfaces, at a molecular scale, using surface science techniques.Nanoporous (np) Au structures with residual amounts of Ag (1-5 at.%) are increasingly used as catalyst for oxidation reactions. They are made of an interconnected array of three-dimensional ligaments (20-70 nm in diameter) presenting highly crystalline structures and exposing different crystallographic facets with different properties. These structural features allow for a bottom-up surface science investigation using Au-Ag samples with increasing structural complexity. The used experimental approach provides representative data on single crystals (using photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) and quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS)), on model nanoparticles (using field ion microscopy (FIM) and field electron microscopy (FEM)) and on np-Au samples (using temporary analysis of products (TAP) and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS)) and allows to corroborate results from the different techniques. During experiments with the respective techniques, these samples are exposed to O2, NO2, H2, CO, CH4, CH3OH as well as their analogous reactive gas mixtures to study the corresponding oxidation reactions.PEEM experiments allowed to determine the crucial importance of low coordinated surface atoms to achieve reactivity towards O2 dissociation. This assessment became even clearer when no reactivity towards oxidation of any of the probed reactions was determined on fully Ag covered Au(111) surfaces. Model nanoparticles used in FIM and FEM expose a multitude of crystallographic facets, allowing to simultaneously study facets with varying catalytic properties and understand the influence of connective properties such as surface diffusion of adsorbates or the effects of surface reconstructions on neighbouring facets. On pure Au, the catalytic performances in oxidation reactions are highlighted but an external source of O(ads) was shown to be necessary. Pure Ag samples present a high susceptibility of oxidation which allows for reactivity towards all of the probed reactants, but ultimately leads to the deactivation of the surface by permanent oxidation. Au-8.8 at.%Ag samples present intermediate properties with an intrinsic ability to provide O(ads) from O2, and reactive regimes over prolongated periods of time are possible. Differences in activity are discussed with respect to various parameters such as the underlying crystallographic structures, the chemical composition and repartition of the adsorbates, the temperature, the reconstructions and compositional changes of the surface. Finally, experiments in TAP on np-Au-1.5 at.%.Ag confirmed the selectivity changes in the case of oxidising pre-treatments during methanol oxidation. These changes are corroborated in DRIFTS under ambient pressure conditions during CO oxidation.This work contributes to the clarification of elementary steps during the oxidation processes on Au-Ag surfaces. The possibility to extrapolate results from single crystal surfaces under reduced pressure conditions up to nanoporous structures under ambient pressure is shown. This allows the partial bridging of the materials and pressure gaps between studies undertaken by the surface science and the applied catalysis approaches.