Metal Clusters

The catalytic reactivity of bulk metal oxide surfaces can all be attributed to nanoscopic defect sites along the surface. Gas-phase clusters have gained considerable attention in recent years for their ability to mimic these defect sites, and also providing the opportunity to explore how their properties change with the addition or subtraction of every atom. By studying the reactivity of small metal oxide clusters, we can identify the electronic structure, geometry and stoichiometries of the metal oxide materials that are catalytically active. These results provide a direct molecular level understanding to the mechanisms that occur in the bulk phase, but are obscured through the inherent ensemble averaging. Our goal is to identify the reactive sites and apply this knowledge to the design of revolutionary new forms of matter with tailored properties, or materials that retain the physical and chemical properties of the individual clusters that are particularly catalytically active. This has potential to be used to produce both economically and environmentally friendly materials to replace the expensive industrial catalysts such as platinum and palladium.