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Scientists have discovered a new process to break bulk metal into atoms, which will lead to new sustainable ways of making and using molecule in the most atom- efficient way.
The University ofNottingham has demonstrated that Pt atoms can be dispersed onto powder supports directly by splitting bulk metal to atoms at a record-breaking rate of four and a half thousand trillion atoms per second. The method is solvent-free and can be used to make Pt atoms on powder particles. The study was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.
Catalysts enable 80% of industrial chemical processes that deliver the most vital ingredients of our economy, from materials to pharmaceuticals to agriculture. The high demand for catalysts means that global supplies of many useful metals, including gold, Platinum and palladium, are becoming rapidly deplete.
To protect the metal supplies, it's important to use every atom to its fullest potential. Increasing the active surface area available for catalysis can be achieved by atomic dispersion of metals in the support materials. The metal atoms can change in properties when compared with metal nanoparticles, which can lead to new phenomena that are otherwise not accessible at the macroscale.
The methods for the preparation of atomically dispersed metal catalysts are based on either wet-chemistry or atomic layer deposition. Industrial scale-up of these methods is difficult because they require multiple steps, generate large amounts of chemical waste, and are not generalisable across supports and metal catalysts.
This new research shows how magnetron sputtering can be used to produce atomically dispersed metals in any support material in a sustainable andScalable fashion. This method has been used in the glass coating industry and is now being used to make atomically dispersed metal catalysts.
The Pt atoms were dispersed over the entire surface of the powder support and then applied a catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
A shower of metal atoms raining onto the support material is created by a fast beam of argon ion. Control of the distribution of metal atoms on the powder support remains a challenge, even though metal atoms can be generated on demand. The University ofNottingham led the research and filed for a patent earlier this year.
The Journal of Materials Chemistry A has more information on the method of dispersion of metal atoms. The DOI is 10.1039/D1TA08372D.
The Journal of Materials Chemistry A has information.
A new process breaks bulk metal into atoms for sustainable catalyst production.
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