PNNL

Abstract

The competitive interaction between acetone and two solvent molecules (methanol and water) for surface sites on rutile TiO2(110) was studied using temperature programmed desorption (TPD). On a vacuum reduced TiO2(110) surface, which possessed ~5% oxygen vacancy sites, excess methanol displaced preadsorbed acetone molecules to weakly bound and physisorbed desorption states below 200 K, whereas acetone was stabilized to 250 K against displacement by methanol on an oxidized surface through formation of an acetone-diolate species. These behaviors of acetone differ from the competitive interactions between acetone and water in that acetone is less susceptible to displacement by water. Examination of acetone+methanol and acetone+water multilayer combinations shows that acetone is more compatible in water-ice films than in methanol-ice films, presumably because water has greater potential as a hydrogen-bond donor than does methanol. Acetone molecules displaced from the TiO2(110) surface by water are more likely to be retained in the near-surface region, having a greater opportunity to revisit the surface, than when methanol is used as a coadsorbate. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences' Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy.