title: Hexagonal boron nitride cover on Pt(111): a new route to tune molecule-metal interaction and metal-catalyzed reactions.
abstract: In heterogeneous catalysis molecule-metal interaction is often modulated through structural modifications at the surface or under the surface of the metal catalyst. Here, we suggest an alternative way toward this modulation by placing a two-dimensional (2D) cover on the metal surface. As an illustration, CO adsorption on Pt(111) surface has been studied under 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) overlayer. Dynamic imaging data from surface electron microscopy and in situ surface spectroscopic results under near ambient pressure conditions confirm that CO molecules readily intercalate monolayer h-BN sheets on Pt(111) in CO atmosphere but desorb from the h-BN/Pt(111) interface even around room temperature in ultrahigh vacuum. The interaction of CO with Pt has been strongly weakened due to the confinement effect of the h-BN cover, and consequently, CO oxidation at the h-BN/Pt(111) interface was enhanced thanks to the alleviated CO poisoning effect.
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: ‡State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R. 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, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haobo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: §Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: ‡State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingshu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinhe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bao
keywords: CO oxidation; Pt(111); confinement effect; hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN); intercalation