title: Stepwise displacement of catalytically active gold nanoparticles on cerium oxide.
abstract: Aberration-corrected environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM) proved that catalytically active gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) move reversibly and stepwise by approximately 0.09 nm on a cerium oxide (CeO2) support surface at room temperature and in a reaction environment. The lateral displacements and rotations occur back and forth between equivalent sites, indicating that AuNPs are loosely bound to oxygen-terminated CeO2 and may migrate on the surface with low activation energy. The AuNPs are likely anchored to oxygen-deficient sites. Observations indicate that the most probable activation sites in gold nanoparticulate catalysts, which are the perimeter interfaces between an AuNP and a support, are not structurally rigid.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University , 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasufumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwauchi
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Keju
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Masatake
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haruta
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kohno