Study of exsolution mechanism in titanate-based materials doped with Ni, Cu and Fe through in-situ diffraction for Rietveld and Pair Distrib

The exsolution method for preparing supported nanoparticles is gaining increasing attention due to its enhanced catalytic properties, extended lifetime, and improved resistance to coking. The selection of the metal is crucially for its catalytic application, making the nature of the dopant(s) in the B-site a key factor in understanding nanoparticle formation.
In the light of the results achieved in our previous experiment CH-6703 (see report), hereby, we propose to investigate the exsolution mechanism in a general system (La0.5Sr0.5)0.90Ti1-xMxO3 where x = 0.10. We will investigate both single-metal M (= Fe) and bimetallic (M'_(x/2) M''_(x/2)) systems involving Ni, Cu and Fe. Diffraction data analysed by Rietveld method combined with Pair Distribution Function will be precious to investigate the structure at atomic level of matrix and exsolved nanoparticles giving a more clear picture of the exsolution process using also bimetallic systems.