The research focus has been on the properties of rare earth based surfaces and other overlayers on various substrates. Presently, the activities concerns metal structures on the nanometer scale on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and metal nanoparticles on oxide substrates. The superstructures/particles are formed by self-assembly of deposited metals of catalytic interest, e.g. gold and platinum. The structures of the surfaces are also studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) by using external facilities at NTNU.

The objective of these studies is to contribute to a fundamental understanding of the effect on particles size on adsorption of gases on different nanostructures systems. The role of the interaction between the catalytic active metal particles with the substrate/carrier is of key interest.