On the Mechanism of Low-Temperature Water Gas Shift Reaction on Copper

Periodic, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT-GGA) calculations are used to investigate the water gas shift reaction (WGSR) mechanism on Cu(111). The thermochemistry and activation energy barriers for all the elementary steps of the commonly accepted redox mechanism, involving complete water activation to atomic oxygen, are presented. Through our calculations, we identify carboxyl, a new reactive intermediate, which plays a central role in WGSR on Cu(111). The thermochemistry and activation energy barriers of the elementary steps of a new reaction path, involving carboxyl, are studied. A detailed DFT-based microkinetic model of experimental reaction rates, accounting for both the previous and the…