title: Activation and splitting of carbon dioxide on the surface of an inorganic electride material.
abstract: Activation of carbon dioxide is the most important step in its conversion into valuable chemicals. Surfaces of stable oxide with a low work function may be promising for this purpose. Here we report that the surfaces of the inorganic electride [Ca24Al28O64](4+)(e(-))4 activate and split carbon dioxide at room temperature. This behaviour is attributed to a high concentration of localized electrons in the near-surface region and a corrugation of the surface that can trap oxygen atoms and strained carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide molecules. The [Ca24Al28O64](4+)(e(-))4 surface exposed to carbon dioxide is studied using temperature-programmed desorption, and spectroscopic methods. The results of these measurements, corroborated with ab initio simulations, show that both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide adsorb on the [Ca24Al28O64](4+)(e(-))4 surface at RT and above and adopt unusual configurations that result in desorption of molecular carbon monoxide and atomic oxygen upon heating.
authors.affiliation: Frontier Research Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitake
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirayama
authors.forename: Navaratnarajah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuganathan
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torrisi
authors.forename: Peter V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Sushko
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hosono