Theoretical Investigation of Metal‐Support Interactions on Ripening Kinetics of Supported Particles

Abstract The stability of supported metal particles is one of the key issues for successful industrialization of catalysts. A theoretical study of Ostwald ripening of supported particles and its dependence on metal‐support interactions, sublimation energy, and surface energy is reported. Two distinct metal‐support interactions are differentiated: metal particle‐support and metal atom‐support. Although strong metal particle‐support interaction (small contact angle) stabilizes the supported particles and improve the ripening resistance, strong metal atom‐support interactions decrease the total activation energy and dramatically lower the onset temperature and half‐life time of ripening, a fact that should be prevented. Moreover, supported particles with low surface energy and/or high sublimation energy of supported particles would have a high onset temperature and a long half‐life time. Compared to the metal particle‐support interaction and surface energy, the metal atom‐support interaction and sublimation energy are most influential to the overall ripening resistance. The present work highlights the importance of interplay between two types of metal‐support interactions on the overall stability of supported particles.