The oxidation of formic acid to carbonate at Cu(110) surfaces

The reaction of formic acid with pre-oxidised Cu(110) surfaces is re-evaluated on the basis of new temperature programmed desorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results. IT is shown that at high oxygen coverages and for high formic acid exposures, or after co-adsorption of formic acid and dioxygen, a surface carbonate is formed. The carbonate appears to be very similar to that formed by the oxidation of CO2, at higher pressures, which was reported in an earlier paper. The results also account for a number of unexplained observations on this system and provide further support for the involvement of carbonate in methanol synthesis on copper. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.