Advanced
Characterisation Tools

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We have 3 teams working on Advanced characterisation tools, led by 5 Principal Investigators.

Led by Professor Pennycook and Assistant Professor Qian He, we deploy the use of aberration-corrected scanning TEM equipped with an advanced ASCOR corrector to perform imaging and spectroscopy at atomic resolution. Coupled with density functional theory and Monte Carlo methods (led by Professor Sir Anthony K. Cheetham and Assistant Professor Pieremanuele Canepa), we can determine the coordinates and electronic structure of active sites and identify the origin of activity and selectivity. With the addition of an environmental cell, we can also study ongoing reactions and correlate products to real-time changes in morphology, composition and structure. These in situ microscopy studies enhance the study of catalytic nanomaterials under realistic working conditions.

One of the key research focuses of Professor Chen Wei’s group is the “Interface-controlled nanocatalysis for energy and environmental research, with particular emphasis on the CO₂ utilisation and conversion”. By using the state-of-art near-ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and synchrotron-based x-ray absorption techniques, his group can study the catalyst reaction mechanism in real time, thereby providing the design principles to design more efficient heterogeneous catalyst for CO₂ conversion. His group can also investigate surface reaction mechanism at the atomic scale using model catalyst and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy.