Dynamic surface behaviour of VPO catalysts under reactive and non-reactive gas compositions: an in-situ XAS study

The surface of an activated vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) catalyst was investigated by means of in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the total electron yield mode. We observed significant changes of the V L3-near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) when the material was transferred from room temperature to working conditions at 400°C in the reaction atmosphere. We studied the same VPO material under different gas compositions comprising the reaction mixture of n-butane and oxygen, pure oxygen and vacuum to elucidate the influence of the gas-surface interaction and the effect of the temperature. The results of this extensive study indicate a dynamic response of the catalyst surface to the applied conditions

Adsorbate coverages and surface reactivity in methanol oxidation over Cu(110): An in situ photoelectron spectroscopy study

The adsorbate species present during partial oxidation of methanol on a Cu(110) surface have been investigated in the 10–5 mbar range with in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and rate measurements. Two reaction intermediates were identified, methoxy with a C 1s binding energy (BE) of 285.4 eV and formate with a C 1s BE of 287.7 eV. The c(2×2) overlayer formed under reaction conditions is assigned to formate. Two states of adsorbed oxygen were found characterized by O 1s BE's of 529.6 and 528.9 eV, respectively. On the inactive surface present at low T around 300–350 K formate dominates while methoxy is almost absent. Ignition of the reaction correlates with a decreasing formate coverage. A large hysteresis of 200 K occurs in T-cycling experiments whose correlation with adsorbate species was studied with varying oxygen and methanol partial pressures. The two branches of the hysteresis differ mainly in the amount of adsorbed oxygen, the methoxy species, and a carbonaceous species. Methoxy covers only a minor part of the catalytic surface reaching at most 20%. Above 650 K the surface is largely adsorbate-free

In situ surface analysis in selective oxidation catalysis: n-Butane conversion over VPP

In-situ analysis of the surface of a working selective oxidation catalyst is an essential yet rarely conducted experiment in attempts to derive structure-function relationships. The case study of n-butane oxidation over vanadyl pyrophosphate (VPP) is used to develop a general working hypothesis and to illustrate that the molecular properties of the substrate set boundary conditions on the surface chemical properties of the catalyst. Experiments using in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and in-situ low energy X-ray absorption spectroscopy are used to derive compositional, electronic, and geometric structural information of the surface of the working VPP. These data allow the conclusion that a surface phase different from VPP must be present covering at least part of the active material. The recent data together with literature observations are used to derive a scenario explaining the function of VPP as a unique catalytic system

Combined in situ XPS and PTRMS study of ethylene epoxidation over silver

Ethylene epoxidation over silver was investigated by combined in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and proton-transfer reaction mass-spectrometry (PTRMS) at temperatures from 300 to 520 K and in the pressure range from 0.07 to 1 mbar. Ethylene oxide was present among the reaction products at T 420 ≥ K and P ≥ 0.3 mbar. The catalytically active surface contains two oxygen species – nucleophilic and electrophilic oxygen. The observed correlation between the abundance of electrophilic oxygen and the yield of ethylene oxide expressed as C2H4O partial pressure indicates that namely this oxygen species oxidizes ethylene to ethylene oxide. Opposite trend is observed for nucleophilic oxygen: the higher is the abundance of this species, the lower is the yield of ethylene oxide. This result is in line with the known fact that nucleophilic oxygen due to its oxidic nature is active in total oxidation of ethylene to CO2 and H2O. The low activity of silver at T < 420 K is caused by the presence of carbonates and carbonaceous residues at the silver surface that reduce the available silver surface area for the catalytic reaction. Reduction of the surface area available for the formation of active species due to accumulation of the embedded oxygen species explains also the decrease of the rate of ethylene oxide formation with time observed for T 470 ≥ K

High-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of palladium model hydrogenation catalysts. Part 2: Hydrogenation of trans-2-pentene on palladium

We have performed the first “high-pressure” X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study on the palladium, hydrogen, and olefin (trans-2-pentene) system to gain better insight into the hydrogenation reaction. We report here data collected with the use of a Pd(111) single crystal and a polycrystalline foil. Hydrogenation was observed on polycrystalline foil (RT and 373 K) but not on Pd(111) single crystal, as revealed by on-line mass spectrometry. We observed the reaction in the presence of a huge amount of carbon (up to 73%) in the information depth of XPS. Mainly graphite was present on Pd(111), whereas other components, C–H and C–Pd, were also formed on the foil to a much greater extent. C–Pd characterizes a carbon species in the interaction with palladium, whereas C–H represents hydrogenated carbon, including chemisorbed species. The d-band of the foil showed a remarkable upshift toward EFERMI compared with Pd(111). We concluded that the differences found in the valence and the C1s region are indicators of different electronic structures that contribute to the variation in activity. The palladium foil lost its activity at an elevated temperature (523 K), most probably because of desorption of hydrogen. From additional UPS measurements, we concluded that trans-2-pentene is hydrogenated in σ-bonded chemisorption modus, at least in UHV conditions

In situ XPS investigation of Pt(Sn)/Mg(Al)O catalysts during ethane dehydrogenation experiments

Calcined hydrotalcite with or without added metal (Mg(Al)O, Pt/Mg(Al)O and Pt,Sn/Mg(Al)O) have been investigated with in situ X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) during ethane dehydrogenation experiments. The temperature in the analysis chamber was 450oC and the gas pressure was in the range 0.3 – 1 mbar. Depth profiling of calcined hydrotalcite and platinum catalysts under reaction, oxidation and in hydrogen-water mixture was performed by varying the photon energy, covering an analysis depth of 10-21 Å. It was observed that the Mg/Al ratio in the Mg(Al)O crystallites does not vary significantly in the analysis depth range studied. This result indicates that Mg and Al are homogeneously distributed in the Mg(Al)O crystallites. Catalytic tests have shown that the initial activity of a Pt,Sn/Mg(Al)O catalyst increases during an activation period consisting of several cycles of reduction - dehydrogenation - oxidation. The Sn/Mg ratio in a Pt,Sn/Mg(Al)O catalyst was followed during several such cycles, and was found to increase during the activation period, probably due to a process where tin spreads over the carrier material and covers an increasing fraction of the Mg(Al)O surface. The results further indicate that spreading of tin occurs under reduction conditions. A PtSn2 alloy was studied separately. The surface of the alloy was enriched in Sn during reduction and reaction conditions at 450°C. Binding energies were determined and indicated that Sn on the particle surface is predominantly in an oxidized state under reaction conditions, while Pt and a fraction of Sn is present as a reduced Pt-Sn alloy