CATALYSIS - FROM SINGLE-CRYSTALS TO THE REAL-WORLD

The ''pressure and material gaps'' separating UHV and technical catalytic investigations have been bridged in recent years by combining in a single apparatus the ability to measure kinetics at elevated pressures on single-crystal catalysts with the capabilities to carry out surface analytical measurements. In these high-pressure/surface analytical studies a well-defined, single-crystal plane is used to model a site or set of sites expected to exist on practical high-surface-area catalysts. This ''surface science'' approach has been used to study structure sensitivity, the effects of promoters/inhibitors on catalytic activity, and mixed-metal catalysis. In this article, some of the progress made during the last twenty years to integrate modern surface science into fundamental catalytic research will be reviewed, including recent efforts to simulate oxide-supported metal systems using thin oxide films.