Highlighted Flash Talk

In her flash talk, Dr. Charlotte Vogt delves into structure insensitive reactions, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms through a study on silica-supported Ni metal nanoparticles. Supported nanoparticle catalysts, like those examined in this study, play a crucial role in various industries. Dr. Vogt highlights the common size-dependent activity relationship observed in catalytic reactions, where smaller particles typically exhibit greater activity (structure sensitive reactions), while conversion in structure-insensitive reactions remains constant regardless of nanoparticle size. Through in-situ observations using the Atmosphere system, she reveals how ethene hydrogenation triggers lattice expansion and particle distortion, ultimately exposing active sites and leading to the observed structure-insensitive behavior.