Probing the internal structure of a cobalt aluminophosphate catalyst. An inelastic neutron scattering study of sorbed dihydrogen molecules behaving as one- and two-dimensional rotors

Abstract

Analysis of the inelastic neutron scattering rotational spectrum of sorbed dihydrogen in a cobalt aluminophosphate catalyst shows that dihydrogen molecules confined in the internal space of the CoAlPO behave as 1D rotors, rotating with the H–H axis aligned with the internal electric field, and as 2D rotors, rotating in a plane and bound sideways at surface sites.