Infrared Spectroscopy of Adsorbed Species on the Surface of Transition Metal Oxides

This work primarily summarizes the author's results from IR investigations of the surface chemistry of simple and complex oxide catalysts. Special emphasis is placed on spectral characteristics of active sites on oxide surfaces - hydroxyl groups, coordinatively unsaturated cations and surface oxygen. The nature of interation between these sites and simple molecules has been established. A detailed account is presented of the method used for characterising the oxidation state coordinataion of cations on oxide surfaces by the adsorption of probe molecules. The concept of the decisive role played by surface sites in surface-molecule adsorption is used to systematize and classify data relating to the interaction of CO, NO, ammonia and alkenes with surfaces of transition metal oxides and supported or mixed oxides containing transition metal cations. The nature and spectral characteristics of the complexes formed, as well as their transformations have been studied.
In particular the oxidation of carbon monoxide, the water-gas shift reaction and the oxidation of alkenes, alcohols and aldehydes are used to show the potential of IR spectroscopy for establishing detailed mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic reactions and indentifying individual reaction stages occuring on surfaces. The book is intended for specialists working in the field of surface physical chemistry and surface phenomena, adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis.