Surface of a catalyst in a gas phase

Chemistry and structure of surface of a catalyst under a reaction condition is the crucial information for understanding catalytic mechanism since in many cases an authentic, active surface catalyzing a catalytic reaction is formed in a pretreatment or/and in a reaction between nominal catalyst and reactants. Ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy can be used to track surface of a catalyst under a reaction condition as the instrumentations in the last a few decades have made characterization of catalyst surface in a gas phase at Torr pressure or higher possible. It can characterize surface chemistry of a catalyst including surface composition, surface phase and surface oxygen vacancies and other information under a reaction condition and track their evolutions when the reaction condition is changed to another.