REACTION PATHWAYS IN METHANOL OXIDATION AT CU(110) SURFACES

Previous temperature programmed desorption (TPD) studies [1,2] have co ncluded that formaldehyde desorption is the only significant pathway i n methanol oxidation at Cu(110) surfaces. We show that this is true on ly under a limited range of experimental conditions, and in fact forma te production is often the more favourable reaction pathway. This has important implications for other systems that have been discussed wher e it has been assumed that the formate formation pathway on copper is unfavourable.