Carbon dioxide hydrogenation on Ni(110)

Orientation-Dependent Interaction between CO2 Molecules Adsorbed on Ru(0001)

Determining the molecular structure of CO2 adsorbed on metal surfaces and its mutual interactions is important to understand its catalytic conversion reactions. Here, we study CO2 adsorption on Ru(0001) using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Adsorbed at 77 K, the CO2 molecules form mainly disordered structures at submonolayer coverage, except for small (2 × 2) domains. The adsorbed molecules are no longer linear as in the gas phase, but instead, they adopt a "V"-shape geometry with the carbon atom occupying three-fold hcp hollow sites and possess three symmetry-equivalent orientations. Annealing to 250 K causes partial desorption of the molecules, while the remaining molecules form trimers of three different configurations with different interaction energies determined by their relative orientations. The "strong"-interacting trimer shows a cyclic structure, about 40 meV more stable than the "weak"-interacting trimer that is composed of three parallel molecules.

Methanation of CO2 and reverse water gas shift reactions on Ni/SiO2 catalysts: the influence of particle size on selectivity and reaction pathway

The consecutive and parallel reaction pathways show preferences for small Ni clusters and large Ni particles, respectively.

CO2methanation by Ru-doped ceria: the role of the oxidation state of the surface

CO₂methanation takes place through surface carbonate intermediates and depends on the degree of reduction of the ruthenium-doped ceria catalyst.

Reactivity of Carbon Dioxide on Nickel: Role of CO in the Competing Interplay between Oxygen and Graphene

The catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to synthetic fuels and other valuable chemicals is an issue of global environmental and economic impact. In this report we show by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in the millibar range that, on a Ni surface, the reduction of carbon dioxide is indirectly governed by the CO chemistry. While the growth of graphene and the carbide-graphene conversion can be controlled by selecting the reaction temperature, oxygen is mainly removed by CO, since oxygen reduction by hydrogen is a slow process on Ni. Even though there is still a consistent pressure gap with respect to industrial reaction conditions, the observed phenomena provide a plausible interpretation of the behavior of Ni/Cu based catalysts for CO2 conversion and account for a possible role of CO in the methanol synthesis process.

FORMIC ACID DEHYDROGENATION ON SURFACES — A REVIEW OF COMPUTATIONAL ASPECT

In this review, we have mainly shown the recent computational studies on formic acid adsorption and selective dissociation to produce hydrogen ( HCOOH → CO 2 + H 2) on several metal ( Pt , Pd , Ni , Cu , Rh and Au ) and metal oxide ( TiO 2, MgO , ZnO and NiO ) surfaces, and both thermal decomposition and electro-catalytic oxidation have been discussed. The decomposition mechanisms of formic acid have been studied by using different computational models and methods, not only interesting and exciting but also different and controversial results have been reported. It is noted that the model systems used in these studies are too simple and idealized, and they cannot represent the real catalysts or the catalytic systems, and more sophisticated computational methodologies and real model systems under the consideration of the working conditions are therefore needed.

Methane formation from the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide on Ni(110) surface--a density functional theoretical study

The complete hydrogenation mechanisms of CO2 are explored on Ni(110) surface catalyst using density functional theory. We have studied the possible hydrogenation mechanism to form product methane from the stable adsorption-co-adsorption intermediates of CO2 and H2 on Ni(110) surface. Our computations clearly elucidate that the mechanism for the formation of methyl, methoxy and methane moieties from carbon dioxide on the nickel catalyst. Moreover, our studies clearly show that the methane formation via hydroxyl carbonyl intermediate requires a lower energy barrier than via carbon monoxide and formate intermediates on the Ni(110) surface.

Computational approaches to the chemical conversion of carbon dioxide

The conversion of CO₂ into fuels and chemicals is viewed as an attractive route for controlling the atmospheric concentration and recycling of this greenhouse gas, but its industrial application is limited by the low selectivity and activity of the current catalysts. Theoretical modeling, in particular density functional theory (DFT) simulations, provides a powerful and effective tool to discover chemical reaction mechanisms and design new catalysts for the chemical conversion of CO₂, overcoming the repetitious and time/labor consuming trial-and-error experimental processes. In this article we give a comprehensive survey of recent advances on mechanism determination by DFT calculations for the catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ into CO, CH₄, CH₃OH, and HCOOH, and CO₂ methanation, as well as the photo- and electrochemical reduction of CO₂. DFT-guided design procedures of new catalytic systems are also reviewed, and challenges and perspectives in this field are outlined.

Equilibrium shapes of supported silver clusters

The morphology of silver nanoparticles supported on MgO smoke crystallites was studied by combining Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and atomistic simulations of clusters of realistic size. Advantage was taken of the occurrence of well-defined complex MgO surfaces, including stepped surfaces and contact lines between stacked crystallites, to analyze Ag clusters of various orientations. Silver clusters were seen to adopt systematically the shape of a truncated octahedron irrespective of the support morphology. The (100)Ag//(100)MgO epitaxy was evidenced and (100), (111) and (110) facets were identified. The agreement between observed shapes and simulated profiles demonstrated that the formers were close to equilibrium which allowed the use of Wulff-Kaishew construction to determine the anisotropy ratios γ100/γ111 (1.03 ± 0.03) and γ110/γ111 (1.08 ± 0.03) and the Ag(100)/MgO(100) adhesion energy (0.58 ± 0.10 J m(-2)) for clusters large enough to escape stress effects.

Design of a secondary ionization target for direct production of a C- beam from CO2 pulses for online AMS

We designed and optimized a novel device "target" that directs a CO2 gas pulse onto a Ti surface where a Cs+ beam generates C- from the CO2. This secondary ionization target enables an accelerator mass spectrometer to ionize pulses of CO2 in the negative mode to measure 14C/12C isotopic ratios in real time. The design of the targets were based on computational flow dynamics, ionization mechanism and empirical optimization. As part of the ionization mechanism, the adsorption of CO2 on the Ti surface was fitted with the Jovanovic-Freundlich isotherm model using empirical and simulation data. The inferred adsorption constants were in good agreement with other works. The empirical optimization showed that amount of injected carbon and the flow speed of the helium carrier gas improve the ionization efficiency and the amount of 12C- produced until reaching a saturation point. Linear dynamic range between 150 and 1000 ng of C and optimum carrier gas flow speed of around 0.1 mL/min were shown. It was also shown that the ionization depends on the area of the Ti surface and Cs+ beam cross-section. A range of ionization efficiency of 1-2.5% was obtained by optimizing the described parameters.

A theoretical rationalization of a total inelastic electron tunneling spectrum: the comparative cases of formate and benzoate on Cu(111)

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) performed with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has been deemed as the ultimate tool for identifying chemicals at the atomic scale. However, direct IETS-based chemical analysis remains difficult due to the selection rules that await a definite understanding. We present IETS simulations of single formate and benzoate species adsorbed in the same upright bridge geometry on a (111)-cleaved Cu surface. In agreement with measurements on a related substrate, the simulated IET-spectra of formate/Cu(111) clearly resolve one intense C-H stretching mode whatever the tip position in the vicinity of the molecular fragment. At variance, benzoate/Cu(111) has no detectable IET signal. The dissimilar IETS responses of chemically related molecules--formate and benzoate adsorbates--permit us to unveil another factor that complements the selection rules, namely the degree of the vacuum extension of the tunneling active states perturbed by the vibrations. As a consequence, the lack of a topmost dangling bond orbital is entirely detrimental for STM-based inelastic spectroscopy but not for STM elastic imaging.