This collaborative award is made under the Materials Chemistry and Chemical Processing Initiative and is supported by the Divisions of Chemistry and Materials Research. The theme of the research is the synthesis, characterization and catalytic evaluation of supported alloy thin films prepared from main group-transition metal cluster precursors. Specifically, iron boride clusters will be prepared, characterized and decomposed on a variety of supports. The supported alloys will be characterized and evaluated for catalytic oxidation of methane to formaldehyde. Solid catalysts known to be effective for the partial oxidation of methane will be promoted with iron boride films and evaluated. Once the role of the boride films is understood, the preparation will be modified to optimize the catalyst activity and selectivity to formaldehyde. %%% Correlation of precursor structure, thin film properties and catalytic activity will impact both basic science and applied catalysis.
