Sintering kinetics of supported metals: new perspectives from a unifying GPLE treatment

Studies of sintering kinetics of conventional supported metal catalysts are reviewed. Available kinetic data for sintering have been reanalyzed using the new General Power Law Expression (GPLE), which provides the capability of treating these data in a consistent, unifying fashion such that quantitative comparisons regarding effects of reaction conditions and catalyst properties are possible for the first time. It is shown that all available dispersion-versus-time data can be fitted to either first or second order GPL kinetics. From the analysis of these data new conclusions arise regarding the effects of atmosphere, time, temperature, support, promoters, and metal on the thermal stability of supported metals.