Electron holographic 3-D nano-analysis of Au/TiO2 catalyst at interface.
Three-dimensional (3-D) nanostructures of gold catalysts supported on TiO2 were analysed by electron holography and high-resolution electron microscopy. The contact angle of the gold particle on TiO2 tended to be >90 degrees in the case of gold particles with a size (height) of >4 nm and it tended to be <90 degrees for gold particles with a height of <2 nm. The change in morphology increases the perimeter at the Au/TiO2 interface as the particle size decreases. This change in 3-D structure should be attributed to a change in electronic structure at the interface. It was found that electron holography enabled 3-D analysis at the atomic level and was effective for analysing nanostructured particles.
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST Kansai), Midorigaoka 1-8-31, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan. s.ichikawa@aist.go.jp
Satoshi
S
Ichikawa
Tomoki
T
Akita
Mitsutaka
M
Okumura
Masatake
M
Haruta
Koji
K
Tanaka
Masanori
M
Kohyama