CO dissociation on the Pd/W(110) surface. A molecular orbital approach

The dissociation process for CO adsorbed on Pd/W has been studied using a s emiempirical molecular orbital formalism. The behavior of the bimetallic sy stem has been examined comparing it with the pure metal surfaces. The diffe rent contributions to the dissociation barrier have been calculated and ana lyzed according to electronic structure arguments. Over Pd/W the CO dissoci ation is a very unlikely process, as the experimental evidence demonstrates , due to a lower population of 2 pi* molecular orbitals in comparison with Pd or W.