Support-shape Dependent Catalytic Activity in Pt/alumina Systems Using USANS/SANS

Pt nanoparticles dispersed on ceramic powder such as alumina and ceria powder are used as catalyst materials to reduce pollution from automobile exhaust, power plant exhaust, etc. Much effort has been put to investigate the relationship between types of catalyst support materials and reactivity of the supported metallic particles. The surface shape of support materials can also be expected to control the catalysts size with the surface shape of support materials. In this presentation, we show our SANS (small angle neutron scattering) -USANS (ultra small angle neutron scattering) analysis on the structural differences of different shapes of the same γ alumina powder with different loadings of Pt nanoparticles. Then, the reactivity of the prepared catalyst materials are presented and discussed based on the investigation of the structure of the support materials by SANS. The shapes of gamma alumina, rod-like or plate-like shape, were determined from nanometer to micrometer with USANS and SANS analysis. We found that the platelet-like alumina consists of an aggregate of 2 - 3 layers, which further reduce specific surface area and catalytic activity compared to rod-like shape. Rod-like shape shows more than 100% enhancement in the catalytic activities in model three-way-catalyst (TWC) reactions of CO, NO, and C₃H₆ at low temperature around 200 .deg. C