CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN METAL AND OXIDIC SUPPORTS IN CATALYTIC-SYSTEMS

The importance of the metal-support interaction on the catalytic properties of an oxide-supported metal has been shown by a great number of experimental data. Structural, chemical and electronic interactions are all very important to realize the catalyst configuration responsible for its high reactivity and/or selectivity. Furthermore the interactions can become more important during the catalytic process itself, and new surface characteristics can be developed. In this paper we examine, with selected examples, the different aspects of the interaction, how they are correlated and how they can be evidenced by different techniques and more specifically by IR or FT-IR spectroscopy.