Autocatalytic water dissociation on Cu(110) at near ambient conditions.
Autocatalytic dissociation of water on the Cu(110) metal surface is demonstrated on the basis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies carried out in situ under near ambient conditions of water vapor pressure (1 Torr) and temperature (275-520 K). The autocatalytic reaction is explained as the result of the strong hydrogen-bond in the H2O-OH complex of the dissociated final state, which lowers the water dissociation barrier according to the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relations. A simple chemical bonding picture is presented which predicts autocatalytic water dissociation to be a general phenomenon on metal surfaces.
Andersson
Klas
K
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, P.O.B. 20450, Stanford, California 94309, USA.
Ketteler
Guido
G
Bluhm
Hendrik
H
Yamamoto
Susumu
S
Ogasawara
Hirohito
H
Pettersson
Lars G M
LG
Salmeron
Miquel
M
Nilsson
Anders
A