Paper HC+OX+SS-WeA7
CO₂ Hydrogenation on Supported Zirconium Oxide Clusters

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 4:20 pm, Room A213

In this work, zirconium atoms and zirconium oxide clusters are deposited onto metal/metal oxide surfaces as model “inverse” catalysts for the study of CO₂ hydrogenation. The control over the stoichiometry of clusters and the oxidation state of the metal centers enables the study of atomic level details such as identification of active sites, interfacial electron transfer and the role of sulfur vacancies. Recent AP-XPS, AP-IR and STM results of supported zirconium oxide on Cu₂O/Cu(111) surface will be presented. Reactivity studies over Zr/Cu₂O/Cu(111) show that the formation of CO₂^-(ad)and HCOO^- can be seen on regions with the presence of Zr on Cu₂O surface during the reaction condition(CO₂/H₂=1, total pressure=0.5torr), however CO₂ only binds weakly on bare Cu₂O/Cu(111) surface. Moreover, the change of zirconium oxidation state indicates the adsorption of CO₂ happens on metal or metal-support interface, where the zirconium gets oxidized when exposing to CO₂. Some DFT studies of above systems will also be shown, including the electronic structures of clusters, binding sites of CO₂ molecules, etc.