Molecular beam scattering on nano-structured catalysts

The scope of nanoscience has grown to impact nearly every aspect of modern scientific discovery. Applications in catalysis are no exception. The unique reactivity exhibited by nano-scale materials can and has been utilized by the catalysis community. Molecular beam scattering is utilized in this dissertation to investigate the adsorption characteristics of various nano-structured model catalysts. The catalytic surfaces were characterized with a variety of techniques, including Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Diffraction, Electron Microscopy, and X-ray Diffraction. The adsorption dynamics were studied with molecular beam scattering; the adsorption kinetics were studied with thermal desorption spectroscopy. In studies of small molecule adsorption on nano-structured methanol synthesis model catalysts, carbon nanotubes, and titanium dioxide nanotubes, all of the various nano-based catalysts demonstrated unique reactivity as compared with the complimentary bulk structure. The goal of correlating the catalyst structure with its reactivity towards the adsorption of small molecules guided the research. Accordingly, several examples of structure-activity relationships were established through these studies. The results on the carbon nanotubes represented the very first molecular beam scattering studies on any nanotube system, and the titanium dioxide nanotube study was the first UHV surface science study on the system.