Agenda Discussion: Small Particles

Abstract

Chairman Johnson opened the discussion with a set of questions related to the experimental characterization of small metal particles, namely: What experimental techniques can we use to characterize the structures and properties of small catalytic metal aggregates (e.g., platinum, palladium, nickel, and other Group-VIII metallic clusters supported in porous refractory materials such as silica, magnesium oxide, and zeolite)? Can we measure the actual sizes and geometrical arrangements of these small clusters? Can photoelectron spectroscopy tell us something about the electronic structures or densities of states of small metal particles? What about the use of other physical techniques such as magnetic susceptibility, electron paramagnetic resonance, and Mössbauer spectroscopy? How can selective chemisorption be used to investigate the dispersion of metallic clusters? What are the relative advantages of using structure-insensitive and structure-sensitive catalytic reactions in the study of the chemical properties of supported metal particles?