The heterogeneous catalytic system Pt/SiO2 is widely used in “three-way” catalysts, because of its highly selective catalytic reduction of NO by hydrocarbons at low operating temperatures. Although used effectively for more than a decade, in recent years it has become clear that the core phenomena of heterogeneous catalysis can occur at interfaces. in the work presented here, we seek to better understand the role of the atomic and electronic structure of interfaces in making particular reactions facile and moderating the stability and selectivity of a catalytic system.

We investigate model supported platinum catalysts by atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging and EELS using a 200 kV STEM/TEM JEOL2010F with a post column GIF. The combination of these techniques allows us to obtain direct images of the metal particle and its interface with the supporting SiO2, and to correlate that with the modulation of the Si L-edge fine structure.