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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.

The use of controlled atmosphere stages to study chemically sensitive specimens such as catalysts is well established and has been recently reviewed. The effectiveness of CAEM cells for catalyst studies is limited by the difference between their pressure and flow rate regime versus that of chemical reactors, and their lack of analytical spectroscopy. To meet this need, we have modified a commercial TEM (Philips EM-400) by addition of specially constructed accessories.