The video is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6014/171.full
Dr. Franklin Tao and his collaborator gave an invited video speech for Science Magazine along with their invited article published in Science magazine (Science 311, 171-174 (2011)). In this video, the significance of in-situ studies of chemistry and structure of catalysts under reaction conditions was highlighted by Dr. Tao and his collaborator. In addition, Dr. Tao briefed his research projects at the University of Notre Dame (http://www.franklin-tao.com/; http://www.chem.nd.edu/faculty/detail/ftao/) . They emphasized that there would be plenty of new chemistry for nanomaterials under reactive environments such as heterogeneous catalysis in energy conversion processes.
Dr. Tao is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame. His research group focuses on synthesis of nanocatalysts for efficient energy conversion, measurement of activity and selectivity of nanocatalysts, and in-situ studies of structure and chemistry of non-supported and supported nanocatalysts by using unique in-house ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectrometer and high pressure scanning tunneling microscope designed by Dr. Tao and Specs Inc. for catalysis studies.
The following is the abstract:
Most materials and devices typically operate under specific environmental conditions, many of them highly reactive. Heterogeneous catalysts, for example, work under high pressure of reactants or in acidic solutions. The relationship between surface structure and composition of materials during operation and their chemical properties needs to be established in order to understand the mechanisms at work and to enable the design of new and better materials. Although studies of the structure, composition, chemical state, and phase transformation under working conditions are challenging, progress has been made in recent years in the development of new techniques that operate under a variety of realistic environments. With them, new chemistry and new structures of materials that are only present under reaction conditions have been uncovered.