The commercial introduction of Pt-Re supported catalysts to replace Pt
alone on Al2O3 has brought
improvements to naphtha reforming. The bimetallic catalyst can be operated
continuously under conditions which lead to deactivation of the single metal
catalyst by coke formation. Much disagreement still exists as to the exact
nature of the bimetallic catalyst at a microscopic level and how it
functions in the process so successfully. The overall purpose of this study
was to develop the materials characterization tools necessary to study
supported catalysts. Specifically with the
Pt-Re:Al2O3 catalyst, we
sought to elucidate the elemental distribution on the catalyst.
