Models for oxidation catalyst: Characterization and reaction at the atomic level

Three case studies to demonstrate the ability to characterize oxidation model catalysts and reactions of these systems at the atomic level are reviewed. Firstly, results on small Au aggregates on a clean MgO(100) surface which are interesting model systems for low temperature oxidation are considered. Secondly, oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol on alumina-supported Pd is addressed. The problem of oxygen storage in and on the Pd particles is studied for nanoparticles on Fe3O4(111). Finally, morphology-spectroscopy relations for oxide-supported so-called monolayer vanadia catalysts are investigated. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.