Atomic-scale snapshots of a bimetallic nanoparticle catalyst
in action have provided insights that could help improve the industrial process
by which fuels and chemicals are synthesized from natural gas, coal or plant
biomass. A multi-national lab collaboration led by researchers with the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) has taken the most detailed look ever at the evolution of platinum/cobalt
bimetallic nanoparticles during reactions in oxygen and hydrogen gases.