X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopic Studies of Catalytic Materials

Abstract

AbstractX-ray absorption spectra (XAS) contain information in the LIII near-edge region on filling of the absorber d-band, and in the extended fine-structure region on the physical environment of the absorber. We report here an evaluation of the effect on platinum LIII edges of preparation in clusters with a high fraction of Pt atoms at the surface. We also report the effects on platinum and rhenium LIII edges from addition of copper. These effects are surprisingly small.We have also re-evaluated extended x-ray absorption fine-structure spectra (EXAFS) of platinum and rhenium in alumina-supported platinum-rhenium bimetallic catalysts. A novel feature of this new analysis was the requirement that interatomic distances, coordination numbers, and Debye-Waller type factors maintain certain physically necessary relationships among themselves. This procedure decreased the number of free variables and increased the amount of information returned by the analysis.