A long-standing collaboration between the research groups of Dr. Ozkan and Dr. Dutta (Chem) has enabled both groups to to make efficient use out of a Bruker IFS 66 IR instrument and GC/MS combination.

Among all the characterization techniques available to the catalysis researcher, the in-situ techniques provide the most powerful tools.  A technique which allows characterization of catalysts and/or adsorbed species under reaction conditions is Diffuse Reflectance Infra-red Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS).  DRIFTS is a surface sensitive technique for the analysis of trace quantities of materials adsorbed on the surface of a solid sample.

The Bruker IFS 66 capabilities include:

-DTGS and MCT detectors
-Transmission/Absorption IR
-Thermo-Nicolet mid temperature (400°C/KBr) and high temperature (800°C/ZnSe) DRIFTS cells
-Vacuum capability

When combined with a Shimadzu QP5050 GC/MS (10-950amu) a powerful tool is created that allows simultaneous examination of surface reaction pathways and analysis of the gas phase products formed.

Simultaneous DRIFTS/TPD of adsorbed ethanol/water over a reduced Co-zirconia ethanol reforming catalyst.

By utilizing a mobile feed system, the GC/MS can also be used alone for a variety of TPD/TPRxn experiments.

Temperature-programmed coke-gasification over a post-reaction Ni steam reforming catalyst