Spectroscopic Investigation of Carbon Dioxide Interactions with Transition Metal-Oxide Nanoparticles

The interactions of carbon dioxide (CO2) with metal oxides are a significant subject due to the numerous applications in which this reaction is involved. Although this reaction has been extensively studied by various infrared (IR) techniques, only a few (if any) have utilized in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). DRIFTS has an essential advantage over other traditional IR techniques in that it involves minimal sample preparation before analysis. In this work, CO2 adsorption on CoO, CuO, and alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticle surfaces was investigated by using DRIFTS. While the majority of species on CoO and CuO surfaces were observed as carbonate, on alpha-Fe2O3 bicarbonate was more prevalent.