Scale-up of cluster beam deposition to the gram scale with the matrix assembly cluster source for heterogeneous catalysis (propylene combustion)

Cluster Beam Deposition (CBD) is a solvent-free method to prepare films of nanoparticles, one obvious application being heterogeneous catalysis. To address the problem of low cluster deposition rate, a novel cluster beam source, the “Matrix Assembly Cluster Source” (MACS) was invented recently. Following the proof of principle studies, here we demonstrate a further scale up by two orders of magnitude, equivalent to reaching the production of ~10 mg of clusters (Au100) per hour. This allows the preparation of cluster-decorated powder catalysts at the gram scale, comfortably sufficient for practical catalysis studies of the novel materials at the research level, as demonstrated here by the catalytic combustion of propylene.