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

Exsolution method for the synthesis of supported nanoparticles is gaining much more attention since its enhanced catalytic properties, longer life-time and coking resistance. Titanate-based materials have been largely explored for the exsolution from B-site of reducible non-noble metals/alloy and they cover a wide range of applications. The choice of metal is strictly connected with the final use of the catalyst; therefore, we identified the nature of the dopant(s) in B-site a key role to elucidate in the nanoparticle formation. Hereby, we propose to investigate the exsolution mechanism in a general system (La0.5Sr0.5)1-xTi1-xMxO3 where x = 0.10. We will investigate both single-metal M (= Ni, Cu) and bimetallic (M_(x/2)^' M_(x/2)^'') systems involving Ni, Cu and Fe. We believe, diffraction data analysed by Rietveld method combined with Paid Distribution Function will be precious to investigate the structure at atomic level of matrix and exsolved nanoparticles.