Invited Paper SS+AS+EN-WeA7
Medard W. Welch Award Lecture - Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Elementary Reaction Steps on Late Transition Metal Catalysts

Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 4:20 pm, Room 113

Experimental and theoretical results concerning the thermodynamics and kinetics of surface chemical reactions of importance in late transition metal catalysis will be reviewed. Topics include: (1) calorimetric measurements of the adsorption energies of small molecules and molecular fragments on single crystal surfaces, and their comparison to different DFT methods; (2) measurements of the entropies of adsorbates and their trends, (3) using these together with elementary-step rate measurements to build microkinetic models for multi-step catalytic reactions, and a method for analyzing these that quantifies the extent to which each elementary step and intermediate controls the net rate; and, (4) measurements of the energies of transition metal atoms in nanoparticle catalysts as a function of particle size and support, which correlate with catalytic activity and sintering rates.

· Work supported by NSF and DOE-OBES Chemical Sciences Division.