Chemisorption and decomposition reactions of oxygen-containing organic molecules on clean Pd surfaces studied by UV photoemission

Abstract

We have used uv photoeinission (primarily at a photon energy hv = 40.8 eV) to study chemisorption and decomposition reactions of small oxygen-containing organic molecules on clean polycrystalline Pd surfaces at 120 and 300 K. These molecules include methanol (CH3OH), dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) formaldehyde (H2CO), acetaldehyde [H(CH3)CO], and acetone [(CH3)2CO]. Chemisorption bonding of these molecules to the Pd surface occurs primarily through the lone-pair orbitais associated with the oxygen atoms, as evidenced by chemical bonding shifts of these orbitais toward larger electron binding energy relative to the other adsorbate valence orbitals. At 300 K all the molecules studied decompose on the surface, resulting in chemisorbed CO. Since chemisorbed (as well as condensed) phases of some of these molecules (CH3OH and H(CH3)CO) are observed at low temperature, the decomposition to CO is a thermally-activated reaction. The observed orbital shifts associated with chemisorption bonding are used to make rough estimates of interaction strengths and chemisorption bond energies (within the framework of Mulliken's theory of electron donor-acceptor complexes as applied to chemisorption by Grimley). The resulting heats of chemisorption are consistent with the observed surface reactions. © 1977.