Abstract
Heterogeneous catalysts exhibit intrinsic heterogeneities, both structurally and compositionally. For example, the size and shape of nanoparticle catalysts often show dispersions, and could also change over time during reactions. Therefore, it is important to study heterogeneous catalysts with experimental tools that allow in situ, real-time, spatially resolved characterization of catalytic activities. Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has recently emerged as a powerful tool with the abovementioned capabilities. In this chapter, we discuss the development and application of single-molecule fluorescence microscopy for characterizations of heterogeneous catalysts at the single-particle to subparticle level, covering topics ranging from the static/dynamic activity heterogeneities of individual catalyst particles and subparticle regions, to the scale-up ability of catalyst screening, and to the catalysis cooperativity between spatially distinct locations.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the following agencies that supported our research in the general area of single-molecule single-particle catalysis: Army Research Office (grant no. W911NF-17-1-0590 and. W911NF-18-1-0217), and the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Catalysis Science Program (award no. DE-SC0004911, and as part of the Center for Alkaline-based Energy Solutions (CABES), an Energy Frontier Research Center, award no. DE-SC0019445).
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Mao, X., Ye, R., Chen, P. (2023). Fluorescence Microscopy. In: Wachs, I.E., Bañares, M.A. (eds) Springer Handbook of Advanced Catalyst Characterization. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07125-6_13
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