Aug. 30, 2010

Catalyst Characterization: TEM vs. STEM

In (HR)TEM images of catalysts, it is often difficult to recognize metal nanoparticles with a diameter around 1 nm or below on strongly scattering crystalline oxides. For such systems, the combination of information obtained with an aberration-corrected STEM microscope equipped with BF, DF and secondary electron detectors provides a superior means to detect the nanoparticles, as demonstrated here for Pt particles on cerium oxide. more