title: CO oxidation on Pt(110): scanning tunneling microscopy inside a high-pressure flow reactor.
abstract: We have used a novel, high-pressure high-temperature scanning tunneling microscope, which is set up as a flow reactor, to determine simultaneously the surface structure and the reactivity of a Pt(110) model catalyst at semirealistic reaction conditions for CO oxidation. By controlled switching from a CO-rich to an O2-rich flow and vice versa, we can reversibly oxidize and reduce the platinum surface. The formation of the surface oxide has a dramatic effect on the CO2 production rate. Our results show that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the surface structure and the catalytic activity, and suggest a reaction mechanism which is not observed at low pressures.
authors.affiliation: Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B L M
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
authors.forename: J W M
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Frenken