Direct versus hydrogen-assisted CO dissociation.
The mechanism of CO dissociation is a fundamental issue in the technologically important Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process that converts synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbons. In the present study, we propose that on a corrugated Ru surface consisting of active sixfold (i.e., fourfold + twofold) sites, direct CO dissociation has a substantially lower barrier than the hydrogen-assisted paths (i.e., via HCO or COH intermediates). This proves that the F-T process on corrugated Ru surfaces and nanoparticles with active sixfold sites initiates through direct CO dissociation instead of hydrogenated intermediates.
Shetty
Sharan
S
Institute of Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. s.g.shetty@tue.nl
Jansen
Antonius P J
AP
van Santen
Rutger A
RA