Monitoring the lifecycle of tiny catalyst nanoparticles

In order to tailor nanoparticles in such a way that they can catalyse certain reactions selectively and efficiently, researchers need to determine the properties of single particles as precisely as possible. So far, an ensemble of many nanoparticles is analysed. The problem of these investigations is that the contributions of different particles interfere, so that the properties of individual particles remain concealed. Researchers have now developed a novel method in order to observe single nanoparticles before, during and after an electrochemical reaction.