Bridging the gaps between model and real catalysts for dry methane reforming

Drawing structure-function relationships is of central importance for the development of catalysts. However, a fundamental understanding of the effect of the size and composition of the catalyst and of the support on performance remains challenging for powdered catalysts where a variety of species is present. Model catalysts with well-defined size and composition studied under reaction conditions as the powdered catalysts are ideally suited to tackle this problem, by employing advanced in situ synchrotron-based and electron diffraction-based characterization methods to study catalysts in the size range of a single atom to tens of nanometers (closing the materials gap) under a wide range of pressures (closing the pressure gap) to correlate particle size, shape, oxidation state and support effects with the activity of these materials, in the dry reforming of methane. It is the process in which two important greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) react one with another over a catalyst to yield synthesis gas (CO and H2).