Composition and size dependent methane dehydrogenation on binary gold-palladium clusters

- The reactions of free gold-palladium clusters Au2Pd+, AuPd2+, and Au2Pd2+ with methane have been investigated in an ion trap experiment.
- Methane binding energies are determined.
- AuPd2+ dehydrogenates methane and a mechanism for the catalytic ethylene formation is proposed.
- The results are compared to the bare gold Aun+ (n = 2-4) and palladium Pdm+ (m = 2-4) clusters.