Insights from methane decomposition on nanostructured palladium

Despite progress in the understanding of how nanostructuring affects activity of heterogeneous catalysts, there are still fundamental questions to be answered. Do nanoparticle edges have the same catalytic properties as steps on single-crystal surfaces? How much does the increased structural flexibility of nanoparticles contribute to their activity? How do reaction barriers depend on the nanoparticle size? Herein we address these questions...