September 28, 2005

New Grant for Catalysis Research at the NSLS

A group of scientists has recently been awarded a $900,000 grant by the Department of Energy to create dedicated facilities for catalysis research at NSLS beamlines X18B and X19A. The two facilities will be operated by the Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium, charged with improving and expanding catalysis research by taking advantage of the unique investigation tools available at the NSLS.

Some of the key members of the Synchrotron Catalysis Consortium. In the front row, from left, are principal investigators Jingguang Chen and Anatoly Frenkel. In the back, from left, is NSLS scientist Syed Khalid, who runs beamline X18B, and co-principal investigators Radoslav Adzic, Steve Hulbert, and Jonathan Hanson.

Catalysis is a major area of research in the United States because it is very important to U.S. industry, particularly the chemical and petroleum industries. It is estimated to be involved in 90% of all chemical processes and the creation of 60% of the chemical products available on the market. In addition, catalysis is becoming more important to several other fields, including environmental protection, pharmaceuticals and bioengineering, and the development of fuel cells.

The consortium's main investigation tool will be x-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, which measures how a material absorbs x-rays to learn about its molecular structure and electronic behavior.

"XAFS is well suited to studying catalysis, and can often yield more in-depth information on material's structural, electronic, and catalytic properties than more widely used techniques," said Anatoly Frenkel of Yeshiva University, one of the consortium's principal investigators. "We hope to help make more scientists aware of the advantages of using synchrotron radiation in general, and XAFS in particular, and provide support for scientists who wish to start catalysis experiments at the NSLS.

The two other principal investigators are Jingguang Chen of the University of Delaware and Radoslav Adzic of Brookhaven's Chemistry Department. Chen said, "Synchrotron techniques are currently underutilized or unexplored by the catalysis community due to various perceived and real barriers. The primary purpose of the consortium is to promote the utilization of synchrotron techniques to perform cutting-edge catalytic research under in-situ conditions."

Said Adzic, "This consortium is expected to have a particularly strong impact on the research and development of fuel cell electrocatalysts. Capabilities for in situ characterization of electrocatalysts in fuel cell environment under various conditions will be provided by adequate cell designs."

The consortium's co-principal investigators are Chi-Chang Kao and Steve Hulbert (NSLS), Jan Hrbek, Jose Rodriguez and Jonathan Hanson (BNL-Chemistry), David Mullins and Steve Overbury (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), and Simon Bare (UOP, LLC).

The grant will fund new hardware additions and changes at X18B and X19A, allowing scientists to study chemical transformations in catalytic materials over a wide range of energies in real time and at realistic operation conditions. Examples of new devices that will benefit the catalysis-research community are state-of-the-art reactor cells, gas-handling equipment, and detectors. The upgrades will also include the latest advances in beamline instrumentation. All these changes will provide new experimental opportunities for scientists interested in catalysis.

In addition, the grant includes funds to hire a beamline staff to run the new facility and provide support for visiting research groups. The budget also includes funds for travel, which will help new user scientists start synchrotron research programs as well as attend catalysis workshops and training courses.

Most components at X18B and X19A will be in place by April 2006. Catalysis users are now being contacted with invitations to start their research program at the NSLS, and the first users will start experiments in February 2006. The grant covers a time span of three years.

ARTICLE BY: Laura Mgrdichian

PHOTO BY: Roger Stoutenburgh