Development of time-resolved XAFS instrumentation for quick EXAFS and energy-dispersive EXAFS measurements on catalyst systems

From its very earliest days, at which time measuring a spectrum took at least 1 h, XAFS has been used for catalysis studies. In more recent times technological advances have improved the time resolution to minutes and seconds with quick EXAFS, and subsecond to millisecond with energy-dispersive EXAFS. This paper describes the instrumentation necessary and elucidates with specific examples where this has been used. In particular the Daresbury QEXAFS monochromator will be shown and several examples of combined XAFS and diffraction, a powerful technique for in situ studies. The development of energy dispersive EXAFS at Daresbury will be described. Recent results on in situ Rh catalysis combining EDE and mass spec measurements at the ESRF are highlighted, and finally the details of the latest microstrip detector that will enable continuous measurements at 10 mus time intervals is presented.