Radiochemical Methods in the Study of Platinum Metal Catalysis

Because of their extreme sensitivity, radiochemical methods are of great help in the study of catalytic processes. Changes at a surface at concentrations less than those required to yield monolayer coverage can readily be detected without interrupting the system for analysis. This article describes the application of such methods to the determination of metal areas and of catalytically active areas in supported metal catalysts and also reviews their usefulness in the study of electrocatalysis and in the unravelling of catalytic reaction mechanisms.