(616h) Using XPS to Tune Catalyst Design and Performance

Research involving transition metal catalysts continues to be a prominent area of study as eliminating noble metals offers cheaper, and more sustainable opportunities for industry. Ni-based catalysts play a large role in heterogenous catalysts for many applications in both the petrochemical and syngas industries. Often in an industrial environment, characterization methods such as X-ray florescence (XRF) are employed due to ease of use, availability, and cost of operation. However, catalyst production is often a difficult, multi-step process where slight variations in process conditions could lead to product variability that may not be detected in simpler techniques such as XRF. In some cases, a fundamental understanding of the structure-function relationship is essential to fine-tune a catalyst design. In this work, we studied a model Ni-Al₂O₃ based system to gain a deeper understanding of parameters affecting catalyst performance. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to investigate the different states of Ni present on the catalyst surface with slight variations in production steps. A correlation was developed between Ni-state and catalyst performance, and the learnings were applied to the streamlined production of current Ni product offerings.