In recent years, there has been active development of nanocatalyst materials with distinctive shapes, such as nanocubes, nanorods, nanowires, and nanoplates. Nanocatalysts are known to exhibit high activity by exposing specific crystal faces, but they are also known to deteriorate easily when specific crystal faces are lost during use, which has been an issue for practical application.
A research group led by Associate Prof. Takaaki Tomai (IMR) and Prof. Tadafumi Adschiri (AIMR) has developed a method for regenerating highly catalytic crystal faces by rearranging surface atoms through short-term supercritical water treatment of degraded nanocatalysts. This treatment has also been confirmed to restore the catalytic activity of degraded nanocatalysts.
This method enables the reuse of nanocatalysts, which is expected to accelerate their industrial application in the future. Furthermore, this method is also expected to be practicalized as a versatile catalyst adjustment technology.
Related materials
Tohoku University press release page (Japanese) (click here)
WPI-AMR press release page (Japanese) (click here)
IMR press release page (Japanese) (click here)