| SEM | Irregularly shaped agglomerated particles with rough and heterogeneous surfaces. The catalyst particles appear to be densely packed and interconnected. The surface is characterized by numerous ridges, crevices, and irregular surface domains |
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| EDX | The principal catalyst constituents, namely aluminum (Al), oxygen (O), nickel (Ni), and samarium (Sm), were detected. The spectrum is dominated by intense oxygen and aluminum peaks. Distinct nickel signals are observed in both the low- and high-energy regions, and characteristic samarium peaks are clearly detected. Silicon and carbon signals have comparatively low intensities |
Yash Mishra and Debapriya Mandal. “Synergistic promotion of nickel/alumina catalysts by samarium: structural, surface, and kinetic investigations.” ChemRxiv (). https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15007566/v1
| SEM | Larger polyhedral particles accompanied by well-defined surface textures and extensive structural roughening. The catalyst surface exhibits fibrous and interconnected features |
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| EDX | A comparable elemental composition is observed. The intensity of the samarium peaks exhibits a noticeable increase relative to the 10 wt.% sample. Strong aluminum and oxygen signals persist, and the nickel peaks remain clearly distinguishable |
| FTIR | A broad absorption band is observed at approximately 3200-3700 cm⁻¹, an absorption feature around 1600-1700 cm⁻¹, and prominent absorption bands below 1000 cm⁻¹ |
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| XPS, Sm 3d | Two well-defined photoelectron peaks centered at approximately 1084 eV and 1110 eV |
| TGA | The catalyst exhibits an initial mass close to 100 %, which gradually decreases to approximately 85 % at temperatures approaching 700°C, corresponding to an overall weight loss of nearly 15 % |