SSRL Headline News - A Monthly Publication

From SSRL Director Chi-Chang Kao:
Increasing Catalysis Capabilities at SSRL

Chi-Chang KaoWith each passing week, SSRL's five-to-ten year strategic goals are becoming increasingly well defined. Previous columns have presented our plans for Materials Science and Outreach and Support Efforts; in this column, we cover our goals for catalysis research at the light source.

Catalysis is the essential mechanism for directing and accelerating chemical reactions. The development of efficient and selective catalysts is key to enabling use of alternative sources of fuels and chemicals, directly or indirectly based on renewable resources, to meet the growing energy needs, while reducing environmental impact. Recent advances in theory aim to design catalysts on the basis of understanding the basic mechanisms, the materials properties determining them, and the chemical reaction pathways. Coupled with catalyst synthesis and in-situ characterization, this has brought the “Materials by Design” paradigm within reach. Synchrotron light source facilities, with their sophisticated tools, can address the critical needs of the catalysis research community of molecular-level characterization of catalysts under in-situ reaction conditions. SSRL is focused on developing several such tools, to enable the understanding of the underlying electronic and structural properties, and course of chemical reactions, on relevant scales of space, time and energy.

Special emphasis will be given to the following areas:
  • Developing in-situ, real-time characterization tools, based on hard and soft x-ray absorption (XAS) and emission (XES, PES) spectroscopies, inelastic scattering-based methods, XAS imaging, and x-ray microscopy and tomography with XANES capabilities over multiple time and length scales
  • Integrating non-synchrotron based characterization and analytical tools, such as mass spectrometry, infrared and UV-vis spectroscopy with the synchrotron techniques and facilities
  • Developing an approach that brings together surface science, nanoscience, molecular science and that includes bio-catalysis
  • Coupling the experimental techniques closely to theory and modeling
We will seek and create partnerships with a number of institutions in energy and catalysis research, including the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (a Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub), Energy Frontier Research Centers (ERFCs) such as the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). We will also continue to grow our strong scientific partnership with the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis at SLAC and Stanford. We will closely coordinate with other DOE Office of Science user facilities to enhance industrial research, and will focus specifically on providing high-performing yet user-friendly tools and a dedicated scientific and technical support structure.

Finally, we will continue SSRL’s long-standing tradition of educating and training the next generation scientific workforce through introductory workshops for new users, summer schools for more advanced researchers, web-based experiment simulation tools, and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.

This article originally appeared in the February 2012 edition of SSRL Headline News.

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Questions? Please contact Kelen Tuttle