| Oxide supported Au catalysts have been the center of intensive research since being discovered as the most active catalysts for low temperature CO oxidation. However, the origin of the high activity of these catalysts remains unknown. The complexity of this catalytic system prevents a clear identification and characterization of the factors truly affecting its properties. In this thesis research, the attention was focused on certain areas that are truly crucial for the understanding of the Au catalysts, including the preparation and activation of Au catalysts, the properties of the TiO2 surface and the interaction between TiO2 and gold nanoparticles. Electron microscopy was used throughout this research along with other techniques and has been proved to be a powerful and irreplaceable tool and provide an insight into this catalytic system with a unique angle.; Among all of the findings of this research, the examination of Au catalysts identified the role of chlorine in accelerating the agglomeration of gold particles and poisoning the active sites. Studies on the activation of Au/Al 2O3 and Au/TiO2 catalysts demonstrated the oxidation state and the size of the gold particles were two competing factors during activation and both were very important. The difference in the mobility of gold species on oxide surfaces affects them.; The study of the TiO2 surface described the reoxidation process of the TiO2 surface and a new surface reconstruction, c(2x2), on this surface was reported. Its atomic structure was solved by applying Direct Methods and Density Functional Theory calculations.; The study of Au/TiO2 model catalysts revealed no preferred orientation between gold nanoparticles and TiO2 supports with various crystallographic orientations and surface conditions, and this fact was explained by the influence of surface adsorbates. Model catalyst studies also characterized surface induced sintering, and estimated the temperature of local heating during surface induced sintering. Finally, the attempt to measure the catalytic properties of the Au model catalyst was presented and the initial results was described. |
