Controlling the Bonding of CO Adsorbed on Cobalt Clusters by Co - adsorption

Reactions of small molecules with transition metal nanoparticles have attracted considerable interest over the past decades since they can provide a conceptual framework for applications such as heterogeneous catalysis and hydrogen storage . The reaction of H2 and CO with Fe and Co nanoparticles has been widely studied due to the relevance to the Fischer-Tropsch process in which a mixture of H2 and CO is converted into long chain hydrocarbons. An important step in this process is the breaking of the strong C-O bond. Upon adsorption of CO on a suitable catalyst (Fe, Ru or Co), the electron density in orbitals that are antibonding with respect to the C-O bond is increased by transfer of electron density from the metal, ultimately leading to the weakening, or activation, of the C-O bond. This activation and therefore the reactivity of CO towards hydrogenation can be influenced by controlling the electron density of the supported metal nanoparticle.