Project A - Disentangling catalysis at real surfaces

The project involves a new approach to the measurement of chemical reaction rates at surfaces, a topic of great relevance to heterogeneous catalysis. We have recently succeeded in measuring the rates of reactions at specific active sites on a catalytic surface - see Nature, (2018) DOI : 10.1038/s41586-018-0188-x, where we report step and terrace specific reaction rate constants for CO oxidation on Pt. We intend to systematically obtain kinetic data for important catalytic reactions involving multiple reaction sites and in cooperation with theoretical collaborators construct accurate atomic scale dynamical descriptions and detailed maps of the elementary steps of the reaction mechanisms.