Emergence of Subsurface Oxygen on Rh(111)

Oxygen atoms on transition metal surfaces are highly mobile under the demanding pressures and temperatures typically employed for heterogeneously catalyzed oxidation reactions. This mobility allows for rapid surface diffusion of oxygen atoms, as well as absorption into the subsurface and reemergence to the surface, resulting in variable reactivity. Subsurface oxygen atoms play a unique role in the chemistry of oxidized metal catalysts, yet little is known about how subsurface oxygen is formed or returns to the surface. Furthermore, if oxygen diffusion between the surface and subsurface is mediated by defects, there will be localized changes in the surface chemistry due to the elevated oxygen concentration near the emergence sites. We observed that oxygen atoms emerge preferentially along the boundary between surface phases and that subsurface oxygen is depleted before the surface oxide decomposes.

Exposure of Pt(5 5 3) and Rh(1 1 1) to atomic and molecular oxygen: do defects enhance subsurface oxygen formation?

Subsurface oxygen is known to form in transition metals, and is thought to be an important aspect of their ability to catalyze chemical reactions. The formation of subsurface oxygen is not, however, equivalent across all catalytically relevant metals. As a result, it is difficult to predict the stability and ease of the formation of subsurface oxygen in metals, as well as how the absorbed oxygen affects the chemical and physical properties of the metal. In comparing how a stepped platinum surface, Pt(5 5 3), responds to exposure to gas-phase oxygen atoms under ultra-high vacuum conditions to planar Rh(1 1 1), we are able to determine what role, if any, steps have on the capacity of a metal for subsurface oxygen formation. Despite the presence of regular defects, we found that only surface-bound oxygen formed on Pt(5 5 3). Alternatively, on the Rh(1 1 1) surface, oxygen readily absorbed into the selvedge of the metal. These results suggest that defects alone are insufficient for the formation of subsurface oxygen, and the ability of the metal to absorb oxygen is the primary factor in the formation and stabilization of subsurface oxygen.

Electrochemical Stripping of Atomic Oxygen on Single-Crystalline Platinum: Bridging Gas-Phase and Electrochemical Oxidation

To understand the interaction between Pt and surface oxygenated species in electrocatalysis, this paper correlates the electrochemistry of atomic oxygen on Pt formed in the gas phase with electrochemically generated oxygen species on a variety of single-crystal platinum surfaces. The atomic oxygen adsorbed on single-crystalline Pt electrodes, made by thermal dissociation of molecular oxygen, is used for voltammetry measurements in acidic electrolytes (HClO₄ and H₂SO₄). The essential knowledge of coverage, binding energy, and surface construction of atomic oxygen is correlated with the charge, potential, and shape of voltammograms, respectively. The differences of the voltammograms between the oxide made by thermal dissociation of molecular oxygen and electrochemical oxidation imply that atomic oxygen is not an intermediate of the electrochemical oxidation of Pt(111). The reconstruction of (100) terrace and step and the low-potential stripping of atomic oxygen on (111) step site provide insight into the first stages of degradation of Pt-based electrocatalysts.

Heterogeneous Metal-Free Hydrogenation over Defect-Laden Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Catalytic hydrogenation is an important process used for the production of everything from foods to fuels. Current heterogeneous implementations of this process utilize metals as the active species. Until recently, catalytic heterogeneous hydrogenation over a metal-free solid was unknown; implementation of such a system would eliminate the health, environmental, and economic concerns associated with metal-based catalysts. Here, we report good hydrogenation rates and yields for a metal-free heterogeneous hydrogenation catalyst as well as its unique hydrogenation mechanism. Catalytic hydrogenation of olefins was achieved over defect-laden h-BN (dh-BN) in a reactor designed to maximize the defects in h-BN sheets. Good yields (>90%) and turnover frequencies (6 × 10^-5-4 × 10^-3) were obtained for the hydrogenation of propene, cyclohexene, 1,1-diphenylethene, (E)- and (Z)-1,2-diphenylethene, octadecene, and benzylideneacetophenone. Temperature-programmed desorption of ethene over processed h-BN indicates the formation of a highly defective structure. Solid-state NMR (SSNMR) measurements of dh-BN with high and low propene surface coverages show four different binding modes. The introduction of defects into h-BN creates regions of electronic deficiency and excess. Density functional theory calculations show that both the alkene and hydrogen-bond order are reduced over four specific defects: boron substitution for nitrogen (B_N), vacancies (V_B and V_N), and Stone-Wales defects. SSNMR and binding-energy calculations show that V_N are most likely the catalytically active sites. This work shows that catalytic sites can be introduced into a material previously thought to be catalytically inactive through the production of defects.

Double-Stranded Water on Stepped Platinum Surfaces

The interaction of platinum with water plays a key role in (electro)catalysis. Herein, we describe a combined theoretical and experimental study that resolves the preferred adsorption structure of water wetting the Pt(111)-step type with adjacent (111) terraces. Double stranded lines wet the step edge forming water tetragons with dissimilar hydrogen bonds within and between the lines. Our results qualitatively explain experimental observations of water desorption and impact our thinking of solvation at the Pt electrochemical interface.