Isolated Metal Active Site Concentration and Stability Control Catalytic CO 2 Reduction Selectivity

CO2 reduction by H2 on heterogeneous catalysts is an important class of reactions that has been studied for decades. However, atomic scale details of structure-function relationships are still poorly understood. Particularly, it has been suggested that metal particle size plays a unique role in controlling the stability of CO2 hydrogenation catalysts and the distribution of active sites, which dictates reactivity and selectivity. These studies often have not considered the possible role of isolated metal active sites in the observed dependences. Here, we utilize probe molecule diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) with known site-specific extinction coefficients to quantify the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UO
  University of California, Riverside
• DO
  Division of Chemistry

  Award: CHE-1301019