Carbon monoxide higher coverage

The saturation coverage during chemisorption on a clean transition-metal surface is controlled by the fonnation of a chemical bond at a specific site [5] and not necessarily by the area of the molecule. In addition, in this case, the heat of chemisorption of the first monolayer is substantially higher than for the second and subsequent layers where adsorption is via weaker van der Waals interactions. Chemisorption is often usefLil for measuring the area of a specific component of a multi-component surface, for example, the area of small metal particles adsorbed onto a high-surface-area support [6], but not for measuring the total area of the sample. Surface areas measured using this method are specific to the molecule that chemisorbs on the surface. Carbon monoxide titration is therefore often used to define the number of sites available on a supported metal catalyst. In order to measure the total surface area, adsorbates must be selected that interact relatively weakly with the substrate so that the area occupied by each adsorbent is dominated by intennolecular interactions and the area occupied by each molecule is approximately defined by van der Waals radii. This... 

Figure 2.9 Thermal desorption of carbon monoxide from two rhodium surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum, as measured with the experimental set-up of Fig. 2,10. Each curve corresponds to a different surface coverage of CO. At low coverages CO desorbs in a single peak indicating that all CO molecules bind in a similar configuration to the surface. At higher coverages, an additional desorption peak appears, indicative of a different adsorption geometry (courtesy of M.J.P. Hopstaken and W.E. van Gennip [141).

More recently, Dalla Betta and Shelef (51) performed in situ IR measurements with AljOj-supported ruthenium, exposed to 1 bar total pressure mixtures of H2 CO He = 0.075 0.025 0.9 at temperatures from 250°C upward. Up to 250°C adsorbed CO was present at almost complete monolayer coverage. At higher temperatures the coverage decreased. As the phenomenon is irreversible with respect to a lowering of the reaction temperature, the authors conclude that it reflects surface blocking by a reaction residue rather than a temperature dependence of the carbon monoxide adsorption-desorption equilibrium. 

To understand the behaviour of preferential oxidation catalysts, the operating principle requires explanation. The common feature of these catalysts is the preferential adsorption of carbon monoxide at low temperature. When the reaction temperature increases, the carbon monoxide coverage decreases and reaction with oxygen (when it is present in the gas phase) takes place. At even higher temperatures and lower coverage of active sites with carbon monoxide, hydrogen oxidation occurs in parallel. Thus, an operating window exists for preferential oxidation catalysts. 

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