INVESTIGATION OF CARBON-BASED CATALYSTS BY SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY - OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS

Carbon in various forms is widely used as catalyst and catalyst suppor t. The microstructure plays an essential role in determining the prope rties of carbon materials. In the past, different attempts have been m ade to elucidate the interrelation between structure (geometrical and electronic) and reactivity of these materials. The invention of scanni ng tunneling microscopy (STM) provided new opportunities to study such interdependences in more detail. In this paper, we review STM studies on carbon materials used in catalysis and discuss possibilities and l imitations of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques in the charac terization of these materials. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.