Rational Design of Nanostructured Copper–Zinc Oxide Catalysts for the Steam Reforming of Methanol

Getting under the surface of aging: The bulk structure of copper nanoparticles can be tailored during the preparation by exploiting known structure–activity relationships. Ageing of freshly precipitated precursors leads to characteristic phase transitions and enables control of microstrain and particle size (see picture) properties which influence catalytic activity.