Investigating long term structural changes in heterogeneous catalysts and battery materials

The project will look at long term structural changes in heterogeneous catalysts and battery materials. We envisage performing long duration experiments using synchrotron techniques such as the capabilities of the I11 XRD beamline at the Diamond Light Source.
Many catalyst materials undergo thermal cycling events during use which may lead to varied changes in structure and therefore performance, such as changes to the pore systems or active metal nanoparticle size. By monitoring these changes over long time scales, whilst maintaining reaction or temperature conditions will lead to an enhanced understanding of the processes involved and so could lead to improved catalyst design.