PNNL

Abstract

The oxidation and photooxidation reactions of nitric oxide were explored on a mixed Fe and Cr mixed oxide surface using temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The mixed oxide surface examined initially had a corundum (0001) structure with a nominal cation composition of 75% Fe and 25% Cr, but after sputter/anneal cleaning was transformed into a magnetite-like (111) surface structure enriched with Cr (~40%). TPD studies of nitric oxide on the (Fe,Cr)3O4(111) surface revealed two main desorption states at 220 and 370 K, along with a third minor desorption state at ~310 K. Similarly, O2 TPD occurred in two main TPD states (100 and 230 K) and a minor state (155 K). The more strongly and weakly bound NO and O2 molecules were assigned to adsorption at Fe2+ and Fe3+ sites, respectively, with the minor desorption states assigned to Cr3+ sites. No thermal decomposition or surface chemistry was detected in TPD for adsorbed NO (e.g., no N2 or N2O formation), whereas ~10% of the adsorbed O2 irreversibly dissociated at Fe2+ sites. These dissociated oxygen species did not react with coadsorbed NO, but instead blocked NO adsorption at the Fe2+ sites, but had no effect on NO adsorption at Fe3+ sites. In contrast, NO reacted with preadsorbed O2 molecules to generate an adsorbed nitrate/nitrite species that decomposed in TPD to liberate NO at 425 K, leaving an O atom on the surface. Coadsorption of 15N18O with 16O2 suggests the oxidized species was a nitrate based on the detected level of oxygen scrambling. Preadsorption of O2 was required for nitrate formation as preadsorbed NO blocked both O2 adsorption and the oxidation reaction. Irradiation of adsorbed NO with 460 nm light at 40 K resulted in rapid photodesorption of NO without generation of any new surface species. Irradiation of the coadsorbed NO+O2 system did not promote additional NO oxidation, but limited the extent of thermal NO oxidation (in subsequent TPD) by photodepleting the surface of adsorbed NO. Preheating the NO+O2 adlayer to 250 K prior to 460 nm light irradiation restored the level of thermal NO oxidation, revealing both that thermal activation is required for NO oxidation on the (Fe,Cr)3O4(111) surface and that the nitrate product was insensitive to 460 nm light. The author thanks Drs. Sara Chamberlin and Scott Chambers for supplying the film used in this work. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle. The research was performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.