Sulfide catalysts electronic structure importance

Oxides and sulfides with tetrahedrally coordinated cations such as those with the zincblende structure may undergo substantial surface reconstruction. There are consequently also substantial changes in electronic structure. Much of the work undertaken on surface characterization of oxides and sulfides has been concerned with materials of importance in semiconductors and catalysts, but a certain amount of work has also been prompted by the importance of surface studies in mineral technology. Examples include studies of the surface properties of chalcopyrite (Buckley and Woods, 1984), galena (Tossell and Vaughan, 1987), or pyrite during extraction by flotation (Brion et al., 1980). 

In this section, we will emphasize the importance of the electronic structure, the crystallographic structure and the sulfur vacancies in understanding catalytic activity and selectivity of transition-metal sulfide catalysts. 

Metal sulfides belong to the most important classes of compounds because they are of general significance for geochemistry (they are the most important ores for many metals), analytical and structural chemistry, and biochemistry (metal sulfide systems act as electron transfer systems) as well as catalysis (a high percentage of industrially used heterogeneous catalysts are sulfides) and materials science. 

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