Premium
Cover Picture: Operando X‐ray Absorption Spectroscopy Studies of Sintering for Supported Copper Catalysts during Liquid‐phase Reaction (ChemCatChem 9/2014)
Author(s) -
O'Neill Brandon J.,
Miller Jeffrey T.,
Dietrich Paul J.,
Sollberger Fred G.,
Ribeiro Fabio H.,
Dumesic James A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201490052
Subject(s) - furfuryl alcohol , sintering , copper , catalysis , nanoparticle , materials science , furfural , chemical engineering , phase (matter) , wetting , xanes , absorption (acoustics) , spectroscopy , absorption spectroscopy , chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , metallurgy , organic chemistry , optics , quantum mechanics , physics , engineering
Can you see what is really happening? The cover image shows the sintering of copper nanoparticles during liquid‐phase hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol, as measured continuously at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory (pictured in the background). In their Communication on p. 2493 ff. , B. J. O'Neill et al. combine reaction kinetics measurements with operando X‐ray absorption spectroscopy to monitor the sintering of copper nanoparticles during the liquid‐phase reaction. They demonstrate that sintering is the primary form of catalyst deactivation for a Cu/γ‐Al 2 O 3 catalyst, and that applying an AlO x overcoat using atomic layer deposition leads to interactions between the overcoat and undercoordinated Cu atoms at the surface, effectively stabilizing the copper nanoparticles against sintering during liquid‐phase reaction.