Catalytic model systems studied by high-resolution, video- rate Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

摘要

The development of renewable, sustainable and green energy resources and the protection of the environment by reducing emission pollutants are two of the largest challenges for the human civilization within the next 50 years Besides the well-known energy resources that power the world today; petroleum, coal, and natural gas, active research and development exploring alternative energy resources such as solar, biomass, wind, and hydrogen is currently being performed. To realize the vision of a clean society and our vision of plentiful, low cost sustainable energy, research and innovation within the area of the rapidly expanding fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, multi-disciplinary by nature involving physics, chemistry, biology, molecular biology, is mandatory. For decades single-crystal surfaces have been studied under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions as model systems for elementary surface processes. This “surface science approach” has contributed substantially to our understanding of the processes involved in especially catalysis.