title: Graphene cover-promoted metal-catalyzed reactions.
abstract: Graphitic overlayers on metals have commonly been considered as inhibitors for surface reactions due to their chemical inertness and physical blockage of surface active sites. In this work, however, we find that surface reactions, for instance, CO adsorption/desorption and CO oxidation, can take place on Pt(111) surface covered by monolayer graphene sheets. Surface science measurements combined with density functional calculations show that the graphene overlayer weakens the strong interaction between CO and Pt and, consequently, facilitates the CO oxidation with lower apparent activation energy. These results suggest that interfaces between graphitic overlayers and metal surfaces act as 2D confined nanoreactors, in which catalytic reactions are promoted. The finding contrasts with the conventional knowledge that graphitic carbon poisons a catalyst surface but opens up an avenue to enhance catalytic performance through coating of metal catalysts with controlled graphitic covers.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China; Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
authors.forename: Yunxi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China; qfu@dicp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180;
authors.forename: Y Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Xuefei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Mingshu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Aiyi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Rentao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; and.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division and.
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bluhm
authors.affiliation: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180;
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People's Republic of China;
authors.forename: Xinhe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bao
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010984:Platinum; D006108:Graphite; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: CO oxidation; confinement effect; graphene; interface catalysis; platinum