Carbon monoxide surface structure correlations

The fact that surface structure, in particular steps and coordinatively unsaturated sites, has an influence on the state and reactivity of carbon monoxide is entirely in keeping with the empirical correlation (Fig. 6) between heat of adsorption, electron binding energies, and molecular state. Elegant studies by Mason, Somorjai, and their colleagues (32, 33) have established that with Pt(lll) surfaces, dissociation occurs at the step sites only, and once these are filled carbon monoxide is adsorbed molecularly (Fig. 7). The implications of the facile dissociation of carbon monoxide by such metals as iron, molybdenum, and tungsten for the conversion of carbon monoxide into hydrocarbons (the Fischer-Tropsch process) have been emphasized and discussed by a number of people (32,34). 

The oxidation of carbon monoxide on nickel oxide has often been investigated (4, 6, 8, 9, II, 16, 17, 21, 22, 26, 27, 29, 32, 33, 36) with attempts to correlate the changes in the apparent activation energy with the modification of the electronic structure of the catalyst. Published results are not in agreement (6,11,21,22,26,27,32,33). Some discrepancies would be caused by the different temperature ranges used (27). However, the preparation and the pretreatments of nickel oxide were, in many cases, different, and consequently the surface structure of the catalysts—i.e., their composition and the nature and concentration of surface defects— were probably different. Therefore, an explanation of the disagreement may be that the surface structure of the semiconducting catalyst (and not only its surface or bulk electronic properties) influences its activity. 

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