Catalyst characterization by xas and xes spectroscopies: In situ and operando experiments

The role of a catalyst in improving the activity and the selectivity of a given chemical reaction is provided, together with a discussion on the reasons why XAS and XES are so important techniques in the understanding, at the molecular level, of the structure and of the electronic configuration of a working catalyst. Two industrially relevant catalysts are described as key studies: (i) the combined XAS/XES in situ study on TS-1 catalyst provided the structure of the Ti active center in selective oxidation with H2O2, and its evolution upon molecular coordination; (ii) the combined in situ/operando XAS study revealed the red-ox catalytic cycle of CuCl2/Al2O3 during the ethylene oxychlorination reaction.