3.2. LVSEM microscopic study
Unlike macroscopic studies where different areas of
the sample are imaged after each aging treatment, here
we examine the same area of the support before and
after sintering, to follow the evolution of individual
metal particles. This technique was employed to directly
monitor the evolution of palladium sintering on quartz
support at 900 C in 600 Torr of nitrogen. The starting
palladium loading in this study was a film thickness of
6 nm. The images were taken using a FEI XL40 ESEM
operated at 30 kV. With an ESEM, the chamber can be
back filled with water vapor up to 1 Torr during imaging.
This is frequently used to study biological samples,
but is used here to minimize the surface charging of the
oxide support.
For referencing the image position, a scribe mark was
made on the surface of the quartz. A small crack from
the edge of this scribe mark was used as the fiducial
reference in the following images. The ESEM images
can be seen in figure 6, where all of the images were
taken at a magnification of 25,000· of the same area of
the specimen after treatment at 900 C. The particles are
already quite large by t = 0 at and hence the particles
are mostly immobile. The major change seen when
comparing the low magnification views in figure 6a to
those in figures 6b and 6c is the loss of the smaller
particles. At higher magnification, we do see some evidence
for particle migration, as figure 7. The 50 nm
palladium particles in this image moved a distance of
30 nm toward the crack before coming to rest. It then
gradually disappeared, most likely by Ostwald ripening.
The particle at the bottom right in figure 7 is 170 nm in
size. If it received all of the atoms from the 50 nm
particle, it would increase only 1% in size. This is below
the detection capability at this magnification.
These sets of images show that sintering occurs via
particle migration as well as Ostwald ripening. Most
particles are immobile and show no movement and even
the one that was observed to move eventually stopped
moving. The work by Rupprechter et al. [8] came to a
similar conclusion and concluded that particle migration
was not significant for the Pt/SiO2 catalysts at temperatures
up to 900 C. Indeed, the literature suggests that
particle migration should slow down, as particles grow
larger in size. Wynblatt and Gjostein [16] have reviewed
the literature on particle migration and suggested that
the diffusion of coefficients of nanoparticles should scale
as d)4, which would imply that large particles become
virtually immobile. At 1000 K, these authors [16] suggest
that any particle larger than 8.8 nm would be virtually
immobile. Our observation of the apparent motion on larger particles indicates that the conventional
model for particle migration may not be suitable,
and alternate models need to be explored for understanding
the dynamics of these nanoparticles.
3.2. LVSEM microscopic study
Unlike macroscopic studies where different areas of
the sample are imaged after each aging treatment, here
we examine the same area of the support before and
after sintering, to follow the evolution of individual
metal particles. This technique was employed to directly
monitor the evolution of palladium sintering on quartz
support at 900 C in 600 Torr of nitrogen. The starting
palladium loading in this study was a film thickness of
6 nm. The images were taken using a FEI XL40 ESEM
operated at 30 kV. With an ESEM, the chamber can be
back filled with water vapor up to 1 Torr during imaging.
This is frequently used to study biological samples,
but is used here to minimize the surface charging of the
oxide support.
For referencing the image position, a scribe mark was
made on the surface of the quartz. A small crack from
the edge of this scribe mark was used as the fiducial
reference in the following images. The ESEM images
can be seen in figure 6, where all of the images were
taken at a magnification of 25,000· of the same area of
the specimen after treatment at 900 C. The particles are
already quite large by t = 0 at and hence the particles
are mostly immobile. The major change seen when
comparing the low magnification views in figure 6a to
those in figures 6b and 6c is the loss of the smaller
particles. At higher magnification, we do see some evidence
for particle migration, as figure 7. The 50 nm
palladium particles in this image moved a distance of
30 nm toward the crack before coming to rest. It then
gradually disappeared, most likely by Ostwald ripening.
The particle at the bottom right in figure 7 is 170 nm in
size. If it received all of the atoms from the 50 nm
particle, it would increase only 1% in size. This is below
the detection capability at this magnification.
These sets of images show that sintering occurs via
particle migration as well as Ostwald ripening. Most
particles are immobile and show no movement and even
the one that was observed to move eventually stopped
moving. The work by Rupprechter et al. [8] came to a
similar conclusion and concluded that particle migration
was not significant for the Pt/SiO2 catalysts at temperatures
up to 900 C. Indeed, the literature suggests that
particle migration should slow down, as particles grow
larger in size. Wynblatt and Gjostein [16] have reviewed
the literature on particle migration and suggested that
the diffusion of coefficients of nanoparticles should scale
as d)4, which would imply that large particles become
virtually immobile. At 1000 K, these authors [16] suggest
that any particle larger than 8.8 nm would be virtually
immobile. Our observation of the apparent motion on larger particles indicates that the conventional
model for particle migration may not be suitable,
and alternate models need to be explored for understanding
the dynamics of these nanoparticles.
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