Atomic-scale structure and catalytic reactivity of the RuO(2)(110) surface
The structure of RuO(2)(110) and the mechanism for catalytic carbon monoxide oxidation on this surface were studied by low-energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, and density-functional calculations. The RuO(2)(110) surface exposes bridging oxygen atoms and ruthenium atoms not capped by oxygen. The latter act as coordinatively unsaturated sites-a hypothesis introduced long ago to account for the catalytic activity of oxide surfaces-onto which carbon monoxide can chemisorb and from where it can react with neighboring lattice-oxygen to carbon dioxide. Under steady-state conditions, the consumed lattice-oxygen is continuously restored by oxygen uptake from the gas phase. The results provide atomic-scale verification of a general mechanism originally proposed by Mars and van Krevelen in 1954 and are likely to be of general relevance for the mechanism of catalytic reactions at oxide surfaces.
Over
H
Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Unita di Roma, Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita La Sapienz.
Kim
YD
Seitsonen
AP
Wendt
S
Lundgren
E
Schmid
M
Varga
P
Morgante
A
Ertl
G