science 🔬 Surface pulls metal nanoclusters apart unexpectedly
Researchers discovered that metal nanoclusters spontaneously break down when landing on oxide surfaces. This happened when early transition metal clusters were deposited onto a well-defined iron-oxide surface. The study observed this fragmentation at room temperature, finding that the tendency was strongest for Ta > W > Mo. This shows the oxide support actively dictates cluster fate, not just acting as a passive scaffold. Future work aims to control this fragmentation to design advanced catalysts. 🔬