Charge effect in S enhanced CO adsorption: A theoretical study of CO on Au, Ag, Cu, and Pd (111) surfaces coadsorbed with S, O, Cl, and Na

The extraordinary sulfur enhanced CO adsorption on Au surface creates curiosity to many scientists in the field, and is expected to have potential applications in catalyst design. In this work, we have investigated the interactions of the coadsorption of CO and various adatoms X (X=Na, S, O, and Cl) on Au and Pd(111) surfaces and made further comparison with CO adsorption on charged Au and Pd surfaces by a first-principles study. We find out that the enhancement of CO adsorption by S on Au originates from S-induced positive polarization of Au surface. The d band of metal atoms in the positively polarized Au surface shifts up toward the Fermi level (E-F) without remarkable changes of its shape and occupation. In contrast, in the negatively polarized Au(111) surface, achieved by electropositive adatom such as Na adsorption or artificially adding additional electrons to the substrate, d bands shift down relative to E-F, and thus CO adsorption is weakened. Further study of CO coadsorption with X on two other noble metal (Ag and Cu) surfaces manifests that Ag shows the same behavior as Au does, while the situation of Cu is just between that on Au and Pd. It suggests that the extraordinary S-induced enhancement of CO adsorption on Au/Ag, different from other transition metals (TMs), ultimately results from the inertness of d bands buried below E-F. The S-induced charge can introduce a significant d band shift on Au/Ag with respect to E-F due to their narrow density of states at E-F and thus strengthens CO adsorption subsequently. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3483235]