Morphology and the Catalytic Activity of Pd Nanoparticles on TiO$_{2}$- and SrO- Terminated SrTiO$_{3}$ Nanocuboids

We report how different surface terminations of SrTiO$_{3}$ (STO) influence the facetted-shape and catalytic performance of supported Pd nanoparticles. A new approach to catalyst studies by synthesizing STO nanocuboids with either TiO$_{2}$- or SrO- terminated surface as a support will be presented. The nanocuboids have well defined (001) surfaces and high surface area; therefore, practical catalytic reaction studies can be carried out while the support resembles the model catalyst surface. This study investigates the morphology and the catalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on STO nanocuboids with TiO$_{2}$ and SrO terminations. We demonstrate that the wt\% loading and Pd nanoparticle size can be controlled by the number of ALD cycles. The morphology and chemical nature of the Pd particles are studied by TEM, X-ray scattering, and X-ray absorption fine structure measurements.