Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 28: Heterogeneous catalysis II
O 28.11: Talk
Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 13:00–13:15, MA 042
Cu clusters on ZnO: Atomistic Insights into Strong Metal–Support Interaction — •Luis Martinez Suarez1, Johannes Frenzel1, Bernd Meyer2, and Dominik Marx1 — 1Ruhr–Universität Bochum, Theoretical Chemistry, Bochum, Germany — 2Interdisziplinäres Centrum für Molekulare Materialen (ICMM) and ComputerChemieCentrum (CCC), Department Chemie und Pharmazie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen–Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
The morphology of nanodispersed Cu on ZnO surfaces, used as a catalyst for the industrial synthesis of methanol, directly depends on the interplay of chemical and physical processes of the environment.[1] In the present study, the underlying complex phase diagram of a ZnO–supported copper cluster exposed to wide ranges of H2 and O2 pressures is generated in the first place by ab initio thermodynamics. After having identified the relevant mechanisms of surface stabilization and Cu cluster morphology, i. e. hydrogen adsorption, oxygen vacancy formation and the experimentally observed[1] brass formation, insights into the strong metal–support interaction are obtained based on exploring the electronic structure of the catalyst under high temperature and reducing gas phase conditions of the industrial process. Furthermore, the response of the support and metal nanoparticle upon surface chemical reactions are probed by studying such processes with H2 and CO2, which are the key reactants.
[1] J.–D. Grunwaldt et al., J. Catal., 194, (2000) 452