Mechanism for the high reactivity of CO oxidation on a ruthenium–oxide

CO Oxidation over Alumina-Supported Copper Catalysts

CO oxidation, one of the most important chemical reactions, has been commonly studied in both academia and the industry. It is one good probe reaction in the fields of surface science and heterogeneous catalysis, by which we can gain a better understanding and knowledge of the reaction mechanism. Herein, we studied the oxidation state of the Cu species to seek insight into the role of the copper species in the reaction activity. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction. The obtained results suggested that adding of Fe into the Cu/Al2O3 catalyst can greatly shift the light-off curve of the CO conversion to a much lower temperature, which means the activity was significantly improved by the Fe promoter. From the transient and temperature-programmed reduction experiments, we conclude that oxygen vacancy plays an important role in influencing CO oxidation activity. Adding Fe into the Cu/Al2O3 catalyst can remove part of the oxygen from the Cu species and form more oxygen vacancy. These oxygen vacancy sites are the main active sites for CO oxidation reaction and follow a Mars-van Krevelen-type reaction mechanism.

A comparison of CO oxidation on cleaned ZnO [Formula: see text] surface and defective ZnO [Formula: see text] surface using density functional theory studies

In this work, we employed continuously the DFT calculations to study CO oxidation reaction on the defective ZnO [Formula: see text] surface. The oxygen (O) atom was removed from cleaned surface ZnO [Formula: see text] (CS-ZnO) to form the defective ZnO [Formula: see text] surface (DS-ZnO), which contained an O vacancy defect. Hereafter, the formation of oxygen vacancy was found to increase the adsorption abilities of O₂ and CO on DS-ZnO, in comparison to those on CS-ZnO. Many steps of elementary reactions including O₂ and CO adsorption, reacting between CO and O to form CO₂, and CO₂ desorption on DS-ZnO were investigated and calculated in terms of the configurations, activation energy, and reaction energy, to which the reaction pathway of CO oxidation has been found. Based on this pathway, the calculation results of the rate controlling step of 0.84 eV corresponding to the exothermic reaction energy of 4.11 eV on DS-ZnO indicated that the CO oxidation on DS-ZnO was more thermodynamically favorable and less kinetically desirable than that on CS-ZnO. In addition, the natural bonds of O₂ and CO adsorptions on DS-ZnO were also analyzed by the partial density of state (PDOS) and the electron density difference (EDD) contour plots.

A study on the acidity of sulfated CuO layers grown by surface reconstruction of Cu2O with specific exposed facets

Surface reconstruction and sulfation improve the acidity of Cu₂O, and moderate Lewis acid sites are the active sites in Pechmann condensation.

Investigation of energy band alignments and interfacial properties of rutile NMO2/TiO2 (NM = Ru, Rh, Os, and Ir) by first-principles calculations

In the field of photocatalysis, constructing hetero-structures is an efficient strategy to improve quantum efficiency. However, a lattice mismatch often induces unfavorable interfacial states that can act as recombination centers for photo-generated electron-hole pairs. If the hetero-structure's components have the same crystal structure, this disadvantage can be easily avoided. Conversely, in the process of loading a noble metal co-catalyst onto the TiO₂ surface, a transition layer of noble metal oxides is often formed between the TiO₂ layer and the noble metal layer. In this article, interfacial properties of hetero-structures composed of a noble metal dioxide and TiO₂ with a rutile crystal structure have been systematically investigated using first-principles calculations. In particular, the Schottky barrier height, band bending, and energy band alignments are studied to provide evidence for practical applications. In all cases, no interfacial states exist in the forbidden band of TiO₂, and the interfacial formation energy is very small. A strong internal electric field generated by interfacial electron transfer leads to an efficient separation of photo-generated carriers and band bending. Because of the differences in the atomic properties of the components, RuO₂/TiO₂ and OsO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures demonstrate band dividing, while RhO₂/TiO₂ and IrO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures have a pseudo-gap near the Fermi energy level. Furthermore, NMO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures show upward band bending. Conversely, RuO₂/TiO₂ and OsO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures present a relatively strong infrared light absorption, while RhO₂/TiO₂ and IrO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures show an obvious absorption edge in the visible light region. Overall, considering all aspects of their properties, RuO₂/TiO₂ and OsO₂/TiO₂ hetero-structures are more suitable than others for improving the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂. These findings will provide useful information for understanding the role and effects of a noble metal dioxide as a transition layer between a noble metal co-catalyst and a TiO₂ photocatalyst.

High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy on Perfect and Defective Oxide Surfaces

High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) is a powerful method for the study of vibrational and electronic excitations at solid surfaces and has been extensively applied to metal single crystal surfaces. As a result of experimental difficulties, unfortunately, much less information is available on adsorbate vibrations at oxide surfaces. This review focuses on recent results showing the successful application of HREELS to study adsorption and reaction of molecules on metal oxide single crystal surfaces. The chemical reactivity of perfect surfaces is first investigated systematically using HREELS combined with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the interaction of adsorbates with surface defects (in particular oxygen vacancies) can also be monitored by vibrational spectroscopy.

Effects of coverage on the structures, energetics, and electronics of oxygen adsorption on RuO2(110)

Plane-wave supercell DFT calculations within the PW91 generalized gradient approximation are used to examine the influence of oxygen coverage on the structure, energetics, and electronics of the RuO2(110) surface. Filling of O(br) and O(cus) sites is exothermic with respect to molecular O2 at all coverages and causes changes in local Ru electronic structure consistent with the changing metal coordination. By fitting the surface energies of a large number of surface configurations to a two-body interaction model, an O atom is calculated to be bound by 2.55 eV within a filled O(br) row and by 0.98 eV along an otherwise vacant O(cus) row. Lateral interactions modify these binding energies by up to 20%. O(cus)-O(cus) interactions are repulsive and diminish binding energy with increasing O(cus) filling. Due to the favorable relief of local strain, O(br)-O(br) interactions are attractive and favor filling of neighbor br sites. These interaction effects are relatively modest in absolute magnitude but are large enough to influence the ability of the RuO2(110) surface to promote oxidation of relatively weak reductants, such as NO and C2H4.

Interaction of hydrogen with RuO2(110) surfaces: activity differences between various oxygen species

The interaction of hydrogen with RuO(2)(110) surfaces was studied by means of thermal desorption and vibration spectroscopies. The stoichiometric surface exposes two types of coordinatively unsaturated atoms: double-bonded O-bridge and five-fold-bonded Ru-cus, while at the O-rich surface the Ru-cus atoms are covered with single-bonded O-cus. On the stoichiometric RuO(2)(110) surface at 90 K, H(2) either adsorbs molecularly on Ru-cus sites or dissociates and forms with O-bridge an H(2)O-like surface group. If, in addition, also O-cus is present at the surface, hydrogen interacts exclusively with this species forming H(2)O-cus. This demonstrates that hydrogen reacts much more readily with O-cus than with O-bridge as expected from the reduced bond order and smaller binding energy of O-cus. It is furthermore shown that at surface temperatures below 90 K free coordinatively unsaturated Ru-cus sites are needed to activate the incoming H(2) molecules prior to any reaction with O-cus or O-bridge. Generally, Ru-cus sites play a key role for reactions of a number of molecules at the RuO(2)(110) surface. These findings are supported by recent DFT-based calculations but are at variance with other reports.

General insight into CO oxidation: a density functional theory study of the reaction mechanism on platinum oxides

CO oxidation on PtO2(110) has been studied using density functional theory calculations. Four possible reaction mechanisms were investigated and the most feasible one is the following: (i) the O at the bridge site of PtO2(110) reacts with CO on the coordinatively unsaturated site (CUS) with a negligible barrier; (ii) O2 adsorbs on the bridge site and then interacts with CO on the CUS to form an OO-CO complex; (iii) the bond of O-OCO breaks to produce CO2 with a small barrier (0.01 eV). The CO oxidation mechanisms on metals and metal oxides are rationalized by a simple model: The O-surface bonding determines the reactivity on surfaces; it also determines whether the atomic or molecular mechanism is preferred. The reactivity on metal oxides is further found to be related to the 3rd ionization energy of the metal atom.

First principles study of CO oxidation on TiO2(110): The role of surface oxygen vacancies

The reactivities of the stoichiometric and partially reduced rutile TiO2(110) surfaces towards oxygen adsorption and carbon monoxide oxidation have been studied by means of periodic density functional theory calculations within the Car-Parrinello approach. O2 adsorption as well as CO oxidation are found to take place only in the presence of surface oxygen vacancies (partially reduced surface). The oxidation of CO by molecularly adsorbed O2 at the O-vacancy site is found to have an activation energy of about 0.4 eV. When the adsorbed O2 is dissociated, the resulting adatoms can oxidize incoming gas-phase CO molecules with no barrier. In all studied cases, once CO is oxidized to form CO2, the resulting surface is defect-free and no catalytic cycle can be established.

A Systematic Study of CO Oxidation on Metals and Metal Oxides: Density Functional Theory Calculations

CO oxidation on Ru(0001), Rh(111), Pd(111), Os(0001), Ir(111), Pt(111), and their corresponding metal oxides is studied using density functional theory. It is found that (i) the reactivity of metal oxide is generally higher than that of the corresponding metal, and (ii) on both metals and metal oxides, the higher the chemisorption energy is in the initial state, the larger the reaction barrier. The barriers are further analyzed by decomposing them into electronic and geometric effects, and the higher reactivity of metal oxides is attributed mainly to the surface geometric effect. Moreover, the electronic effect on both metals and metal oxides follows the same pattern: the shorter the OC-O bond distance in the TS, the higher the barrier.

First-principles atomistic thermodynamics for oxidation catalysis: surface phase diagrams and catalytically interesting regions

Present knowledge of the function of materials is largely based on studies (experimental and theoretical) that are performed at low temperatures and ultralow pressures. However, the majority of everyday applications, like, e.g., catalysis, operate at atmospheric pressures and temperatures at or higher than 300 K. Here we employ ab initio, atomistic thermodynamics to construct a phase diagram of surface structures in the (T,p) space from ultrahigh vacuum to technically relevant pressures and temperatures. We emphasize the value of such phase diagrams as well as the importance of the reaction kinetics that may be crucial, e.g., close to phase boundaries.

Catalytic role of gold in gold-based catalysts: a density functional theory study on the CO oxidation on gold

Gold-based catalysts have been of intense interests in recent years, being regarded as a new generation of catalysts due to their unusually high catalytic performance. For example, CO oxidation on Au/TiO(2) has been found to occur at a temperature as low as 200 K. Despite extensive studies in the field, the microscopic mechanism of CO oxidation on Au-based catalysts remains controversial. Aiming to provide insight into the catalytic roles of Au, we have performed extensive density functional theory calculations for the elementary steps in CO oxidation on Au surfaces. O atom adsorption, CO adsorption, O(2) dissociation, and CO oxidation on a series of Au surfaces, including flat surfaces, defects and small clusters, have been investigated in detail. Many transition states involved are located, and the lowest energy pathways are determined. We find the following: (i) the most stable site for O atom on Au is the bridge site of step edge, not a kink site; (ii) O(2) dissociation on Au (O(2)-->2O(ad)) is hindered by high barriers with the lowest barrier being 0.93 eV on a step edge; (iii) CO can react with atomic O with a substantially lower barrier, 0.25 eV, on Au steps where CO can adsorb; (iv) CO can react with molecular O(2) on Au steps with a low barrier of 0.46 eV, which features an unsymmetrical four-center intermediate state (O-O-CO); and (v) O(2) can adsorb on the interface of Au/TiO(2) with a reasonable chemisorption energy. On the basis of our calculations, we suggest that (i) O(2) dissociation on Au surfaces including particles cannot occur at low temperatures; (ii) CO oxidation on Au/inactive-materials occurs on Au steps via a two-step mechanism: CO+O(2)-->CO(2)+O, and CO+O-->CO(2); and (iii) CO oxidation on Au/active-materials also follows the two-step mechanism with reactions occurring at the interface.

A density functional theory study on the active center of Fe-only hydrogenase: characterization and electronic structure of the redox states

We have carried out extensive density functional theory (DFT) calculations for possible redox states of the active center in Fe-only hydrogenases. The active center is modeled by [(H(CH(3))S)(CO)(CN(-))Fe(p)(mu-DTN)(mu-CO)Fe(d)(CO)(CN(-))(L)](z)() (z is the net charge in the complex; Fe(p)= the proximal Fe, Fe(d) = the distal Fe, DTN = (-SCH(2)NHCH(2)S-), L is the ligand that bonds with the Fe(d) at the trans position to the bridging CO). Structures of possible redox states are optimized, and CO stretching frequencies are calculated. By a detailed comparison of all the calculated structures and the vibrational frequencies with the available experimental data, we find that (i) the fully oxidized, inactive state is an Fe(II)-Fe(II) state with a hydroxyl (OH(-)) group bonded at the Fe(d), (ii) the oxidized, active state is an Fe(II)-Fe(I) complex which is consistent with the assignment of Cao and Hall (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 3734), and (iii) the fully reduced state is a mixture with the major component being a protonated Fe(I)-Fe(I) complex and the other component being its self-arranged form, Fe(II)-Fe(II) hydride. Our calculations also show that the exogenous CO can strongly bond with the Fe(II)-Fe(I) species, but cannot bond with the Fe(I)-Fe(I) complex. This result is consistent with experiments that CO tends to inhibit the oxidized, active state, but not the fully reduced state. The electronic structures of all the redox states have been analyzed. It is found that a frontier orbital which is a mixing state between the e(g) of Fe and the 2 pi of the bridging CO plays a key role concerning the reactivity of Fe-only hydrogenases: (i) it is unoccupied in the fully oxidized, inactive state, half-occupied in the oxidized, active state, and fully occupied in the fully reduced state; (ii) the e(g)-2 pi orbital is a bonding state, and this is the key reason for stability of the low oxidation states, such as Fe(I)-Fe(I) complexes; and (iii) in the e(g)-2 pi orbital more charge accumulates between the bridging CO and the Fe(d) than between the bridging CO and the Fe(p), and the occupation increase in this orbital will enhance the bonding between the bridging CO and the Fe(d), leading to the bridging-CO shift toward the Fe(d).

An insight into alkali promotion: a density functional theory study of CO dissociation on K/Rh(111)

The important role of alkali additives in heterogeneous catalysis is, to a large extent, related to the high promotion effect they have on many fundamental reactions. The wide application of alkali additives in industry does not, however, reflect a thorough understanding of the mechanism of their promotional abilities. To investigate the physical origin of the alkali promotion effect, we have studied CO dissociation on clean Rh(111) and K-covered Rh(111) surfaces using density functional theory. By varying the position of potassium atoms relative to a dissociating CO, we have mapped out the importance of different K effects on the CO dissociation reactions. The K-induced changes in the reaction pathways and reaction barriers have been determined; in particular, a large reduction of the CO dissociation barrier has been identified. A thorough analysis of this promotion effect allows us to rationalize both the electronic and the geometrical factors that govern alkali promotion effect: (i) The extent of barrier reductions depends strongly on how close K is to the dissociating CO. (ii) Direct K-O bonding that is in a very short range plays a crucial role in reducing the barrier. (iii) K can have a rather long-range effect on the TS structure, which could reduce slightly the barriers.