Nano-Particles in Heterogeneous Catalysis

The introduction of in situ techniques has had a vast impact on research and development in the area of heterogeneous catalysis as emphasized in many reviews and monographs. Recently, the number of in situ techniques that can give information at the atomic scale has increased significantly and new possibilities exist for making the measurements under industrially relevant conditions. In order to fully exploit the results from the in situ and operando studies, it has also become increasingly gainful to combine the experimental studies with theoretical methodologies based on, for example, Density Functional Theory (DFT). This has allowed one to extract more detailed atomic-scale information from the measurements and it has also allowed the establishment of detailed structure-activity relationships. Furthermore, the interplay between in situ techniques and theory has helped bridging the pressure gap such that in situ information obtained at conditions far from industrial ones may be used in a more relevant manner. Here, we will illustrate how microscopy-, spectroscopy- and X-ray-based techniques in combination with experimental and theoretical surface science methods can aid industrial catalyst developments. We will do this by presenting examples of our current understanding and latest developments in the areas of heterogeneous nano-particle catalysts for methanol synthesis, steam reforming and hydrotreating.