Berlier Gloria, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Torino
email: gloria.berlier@unito.it
November 2026
6h (1 CFU)
The surface of materials plays an important role in many processes of technological relevance, such as heterogeneous catalysis, adsorption and separation. Molecular probes can be used to describe the surface of a material, when followed by infrared spectroscopy. The technique can be applied in situ or in operando conditions, by monitoring the changes induced on the vibrational modes of simple molecules when they interact with surface sites, such as Lewis or Brønsted sites, or to detect reaction intermediates. On the other hand, electronic spectroscopies such as UV-Vis and X-ray Absorption spectroscopies (XAS) can be used to determine the oxidation and coordination state of metal ions. Changes in these parameters can be followed in situ or in operando conditions, to obtain information on reaction mechanisms.