Feb. 25, 2002 — Researchers at the University of California, Davis have discovered that modifying the support materials under catalytic nanoparticles could propel a new class of nanosize catalysts.

Catalysts made of small particles of metals, including platinum, are already used in the chemical and refining industries and in the catalytic converters found in automobiles.

According to Professor Bruce Gates, what’s unique about the UC Davis research is the discovery that modifying the support material under the catalytic nanoparticles had a substantial effect. By changing the support material from aluminum oxide to magnesium oxide, Gates’ team made nanoclusters of four iridium atoms each — one atom sitting on three in a pyramid configuration — and used the iridium nanoclusters to form propane gas. Previously, the support material has been thought of as little more than something to hold the catalyst in place. The research was published in a recent issue of Nature.

“This discovery goes beyond what people know about commercial catalysts,” Gates said. Nanoclusters of as few as 10 atoms have been used commercially, Gates said, but the atoms tend to be nonuniform. Gates’ experiments with nanoclusters of only four atoms “which we’ve made about uniform” holds the potential for tailor-making a new class of nanocatalysts.

— Richard Acello