Structure sensitivity in the oxidation of CO on Ir surfaces

We report results on the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) over clean Ir surfaces that are prepared reversibly from the same crystal in situ with different surface morphologies, from planar to nanometer-scale facets of specific crystal orientations and various sizes. Our temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) data show that both planar Ir(210) and faceted Ir(210) are very active for CO oxidation to form CO2. Preadsorbed oxygen promotes the oxidation of CO whereas high coverages of preadsorbed CO poison the reaction by blocking the surface sites for oxygen adsorption. At low coverages of preadsorbed oxygen (<= 0.3 ML of O), the temperature T-i for the onset of CO2 desorption decreases with increasing CO coverage. At high coverages of preadsorbed oxygen (> 0.5 ML of O), T-i is < 330 K and is independent of CO coverage. Moreover, we find clear evidence for structure sensitivity in CO oxidation over clean planar Ir(210) versus that over clean faceted Ir(210): the CO2 desorption rate is sensitive to the surface morphological differences. However. no evidence has been found for size effects in CO oxidation over faceted Ir(210) for average facet size ranging from 5 to 14 nm. Energetically favorable binding sites for O/Ir(210) are characterized using density functional theory (DFT) calculations.