In Situ and Operando Spectroscopy

Overview:

In situ and operando spectroscopy provides information on the chemical and physical properties of catalysts under realistic biomass processing conditions, offering insight into the catalytically active specie(s) or catalyst deactivation mechanisms. The ChemCatBio team has expertise in a variety of spectroscopic techniques, including:

• Resonance Raman spectroscopy, which allows for a wider range of both organic and solid materials to be detected simultaneously as compared to conventional Raman spectroscopy
• X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, employing both extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) to provide information such as the valence state and the coordination geometry of the element of interest, chemical identify and coordination number of the nearest neighbors around the element of interest, and the average bond length from the element of interest to its nearest neighbors
• Diffuse reflectance Infrared spectroscopy for identifying and tracking surface species and intermediates
• X-ray and Ultraviolet Photoelectron spectroscopy for quantifying near-surface composition and chemical state and correlating these parameters with surface valence-electronic structure and interfacial band alignments.
• Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy
• Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass spectrometry.

The information obtained from these spectroscopic methods can be used to refine catalyst composition and synthesis processes to optimize catalyst performance. The information can also be used to understand how operating conditions and impurities in the feedstock lead to catalyst deactivation, helping to identify mitigation strategies to increase catalyst lifetime.

Additional Information:

Molecular Environmental Sciences and Chemical Dynamics Beamlines at the Advanced Light Source — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Advanced Photon Source — Argonne National Laboratory

Materials Research Collaborative Access Team

Interfacial and Surface Science R&D — National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

National Laboratories:

Argonne National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory