Spectroscopy of supported transition metal oxide catalysts under working conditions: Potential and limitations

Researchers in the field of heterogeneous catalysis are nowadays working to develop spectroscopic cells that allow them to study supported metal oxide s in catalytic action. This is the field of in situ spectroscopy. Here, a b rief overview of the field is given by illustrating the strengths and weakn esses of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoe lectron spectroscopy and electron spin resonance for in situ characterizati on. The paper closes with case studies from our own work covering different fields of heterogeneous catalysis.