Interaction of methanol with lanthanum oxide surfaces and LaOx/Cu(111) interfaces. Part I. Adsorption and thermal decomposition
Abstract
The adsorption of methanol on ordered-epitaxial layers of lanthanum oxide, possessing a La2O3(001)-like structure and grown on a Cu(111) substrate, has been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), molecular beam scattering (MBS), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and Fourier-transform reflection/absorption infrared spectroscopy (FT-RAIRS). Methanol adsorbs dissociatively at 300 K, with a high sticking probability, to yield surface methoxy species. The methoxy species on the (001)-type terraces of the oxide films are stable to temperatures in excess of 500 K, but then decompose to yield almost exclusively H2 and CO, with only trace quantities of methanol and formaldehyde being simultaneously desorbed. IR spectra also indicate the formation of some formate species on well-oxidised surfaces, and at high coverages the adsorbed methoxy is seen to partially convert upon mild heating to a new species which has characteristics of methyl formate. When regions of the Cu(111) surface are exposed, a greater proportion of the methoxy is converted to formaldehyde.