Seminar

■ 제목 : Nanocatalyst design by modulating shape and composition
                   
■ 연사 : 이현주 교수 (KAIST 생명화학공학과)

 

■ 일시 : 4월 7일 (화)  16:00
 
■ 장소 : 응용공학동(W1) 1층 영상강의실
 
■ Abstract :Heterogeneous catalysts have been widely applied in modern chemical industry. In spite of their practical importance, fundamental understanding and rational design of the heterogeneous catalysts has been impeded because the structure of the catalyst is often hard to control. We are trying to understand the chemical reactions occurred at the surface of nanoparticle catalysts and design the catalysts to have better performance of higher activity, selectivity, and stability. First, we control the shape of platinum-group metal nanoparticles to have specific facets, and tested them for electrocatalytic reactions or various hydrogenation reactions. The unique surface structure contributed to presenting higher activity and selectivity. The novel approach preparing shaped nanoparticles directly overgrown on the support with high surface area will be also introduced. Second, controlling the interaction between catalytic metal components and support materials can enhance activity and stability while minimizing the amount of precious metal catalysts. We found that the mode of Pt deposition on Au with different surface structure (e.g. Au(100) vs. Au(111)) is distinct resulting in different activity. The amount of deposited Pt on Au(111) surface was controlled and atomically dispersed Pt catalyst was prepared. This catalyst presented unprecedentedly high activity for electrocatalytic formic acid oxidation whereas the same catalyst showed no activity for electrocatalytic methanol oxidation.