A collaboration led by Stig Helveg and co-workers, Haldor Topsøe A/S, Lyngby, Denmark, has led to detailed insights with implications for MoS₂ catalysts employed for industrial oil refining, hydrogen evolution, and photooxidation.

The atomic edge structures of several industrial-style MoS₂ nanocatalysts were imaged using single-atom sensitive electron microscopy (see picture). These images confirm experimentally the predicted position of sulfur atoms at the edges of the MoS₂ platelets supported on graphite. The reactivity of these platelets is associated with their edges and so detailed information is highly sought to understand the nature of the catalytically active sites. The team also confirmed that the same MoS₂ structures are present in the real MoS₂ catalyst used in industry.

_{Images: © Wiley-VCH}

• Atomic-Scale Edge Structures on Industrial-Style MoS₂ Nanocatalysts
  L. P. Hansen, Q. M. Ramasse, C. Kisielowski, M. Brorson, E. Johnson, H. Topsøe, S. Helveg,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201103745
• L. P. Hansen, Q. M. Ramasse, C. Kisielowski, M. Brorson, E. Johnson, H. Topsøe, S. Helveg,
  Angew. Chem. 2011.
  DOI: 10.1002/ange.201103745