Ps. Cremer et al., HIGH-PRESSURE CATALYTIC PROCESSES STUDIED BY INFRARED-VISIBLE SUM-FREQUENCY GENERATION, Journal of molecular catalysis. A, Chemical, 131(1-3), 1998, pp. 225-241
The recent development of infrared-visible sum frequency generation (S
FG), a surface-specific Vibrational spectroscopy, has helped bridge th
e pressure gap between studies of heterogeneous catalysis under high v
acuum and atmospheric pressure. This is achieved by in situ monitoring
of surface species at high pressure via their SFG vibrational spectra
and correlating the results with the simultaneously measured reaction
rate using gas chromatography. Examples of systems studied include ol
efin hydrogenation and carbon monoxide oxidation over the (111) crysta
lline face of platinum. In these examples, the studies succeed in reve
aling the molecular details of the surface reactions. Identification o
f key intermediates and their concentrations has made it possible for
the first time to calculate turn over rates per active surface species
rather than just per exposed surface metal atom. In all cases, the ke
y intermediate of the reaction is not detectable on the surface in UHV
under similar temperatures. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.